New Delhi, Jan 13 (KNN) There has been an increase in Textile & Apparel (T&A) exports in November 2017 after witnessing decline since May last year.

Based on data published by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), after a brief period of decline in Textile & Apparel (T&A) exports including handicraft exports every month beginning May, June, July & October 2017, it can be observed that there is a turnaround in T&A exports, with a 20% increase in November, 2017 over October, 2017," said an official release.

The 20% overall increase in T&A exports is marked by an increase of 24% in Readymade Garments, 24% in Cotton, 9% in Man Made Textiles, 17% in Silk Products, 28% in Handloom products, 11% in Carpets and 10% in Jute Products.

Meanwhile, the exporters to USA have been asked to continue  filing SPI ‘A’  for possible future  reimbursement of duty paid on  items under GSP.

India exports a large number of item, duty free,  under the ‘Generalised System of Preference’ (GSP) of USA.
As the present GSP  system has expired on 31st December, 2017, exporters have to pay normal duty  for items which were  under GSP.

The largest export from India Ready Made Garments (RMG) gets  about 10% duty concession under USA GSP and till the system is reintroduced,  cost of the  landed goods, in USA,  will surely be increased to that extent.

Talking to KNN, Animesh Saxena, said, "In the past also GSP was temporarily suspended but was re-introduced, so Indian exporters may temporarily carry the extra cost due to GSP withdrawal without increasing the landed cost of Garments."

However, in the opinion of another expert on foreign trade, the situation appears to be bleak.

The Trump administration is quite unpredictable and if the GSP is not introduced, Indian exports to USA will be priced out by other countries, mentioned the experts.

He also mentioned about the shortage of  working capital the MSME exporters  will face  even if they want to carry the cost due to GSP withdrawal.

Government should come out with specific guidance / package to MSME exporters of items like RMG, to bear the shock of GSP withdrawal. (KNN Bureau)