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Kolkata News: Indian rice exporters on Tuesday said there is no major concern in the industry over US President Trump’s possible action to impose additional duty on Indian rice.
Kolkata News: Indian rice exporters on Tuesday said there is no major concern in the industry over US President Trump’s possible action to impose additional duties on Indian rice. President of India Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) Prem Garg said that rice exports to America are a very small part of India’s total export quantity, hence even in case of imposition of duty, it will not have a major impact. Garg said that the export of Basmati rice to America is less than 3 percent. At the same time, America’s share in India’s total rice export of about 210 lakh tonnes is only less than one percent. He said that America imports only 2.7 lakh tonnes of Indian rice every year, which is very less compared to India’s global supply. Garg also rejected the allegation made by US officials that India is dumping rice in the global market.
Additional fees will not affect
He said that the demand for Indian rice remains stable and America is not a big market for India. Apart from this, Indian exporters are getting good demand from new and emerging global markets, due to which the overall export basket remains strong. His comments come amid discussions in Washington on imposing additional duties on Indian rice, which already attracts a 50 percent tariff. Garg said that starting from 10 percent six months ago, this fee has increased to 25 percent and then to 50 percent in the last three months. This has had no impact on demand. He said that exports in November remained the same as last year. Industry insiders said any further increase in tariffs would be borne primarily by US consumers. Rice Villa Group CEO Suraj Agarwal said Indian Basmati and premium non-Basmati varieties exported to the US are essential food grains for Asian and Middle Eastern communities.
Major markets of Gulf country Basmati
He said that these are essential items, not luxury items. The impact on demand will be negligible. Only American consumers will have to bear the brunt of any additional charges. India, which supplies 40 percent of global rice exports and exports to 172 countries, continues to see strong demand. Gulf countries remain the major markets of Basmati, while African countries have emerged as fast-growing buyers. For example, Benin imported more than 60,000 tons of basmati last year. Garg said that this is a new market which is expanding very fast. Russia has also started purchasing Basmati, moving away from its traditional focus on non-Basmati varieties. He said that major rice producing countries like Brazil and Thailand are also importing Indian Basmati. Garg said India has overtaken China to become the world’s largest rice producer and domestic production is likely to increase by 4-5 percent next year as farmers are getting better prices.
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