Us Restores Duty-Free Import Of 42 Tariff Lines

The United States has restored duty-free import of 42 tariff lines from India, valued at $692 million, under the generalised system provisions (GSP) as announced by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick during his recent visit to New Delhi.

The US government notified the GSP benefits for India on August 22, while restricting GSP benefits on the import of nearly 600 tariff lines, mainly from the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Commerce department officials told Business Standard that the US government has said the GSP benefits on the remaining tariff lines would only be extended after India enacts its patent legislation. The GSP benefits had been suspended in 1992 but the USTR, in a goodwill gesture, had promised to restore the provisions during his visit to India earlier this month.

According to Indian commerce department estimates, during 2000, precious metal jewellery other than silver accounted for nearly 82 per cent