On 3rd of February, even when details about the Trade Deal were being sought in the Parliament of India, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry came out with a press statement which, among others, hailed the leadership of Hon’ble Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and went on to declare that the deal was a ‘landmark step’ which would be a ‘major boost not only for the handmade carpet sector but for the entire handicraft industry of Kashmir.”

Piyush Goyal has today on the 7th of February, made public the details of the deal on his X-account and a cursory look indicates that Kashmir’s Economy would be amongst, if not at the top, of the worst hit. Read with the 2nd February declaration of President Trump, following facts vis-à-vis Kashmir emerge:

India has agreed to reduce tariff on imports on industrial goods, food and agricultural products to zero percent. These include tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits and ‘additional’ products.

The United States would impose a ‘reciprocal’ tariff rate of 18 percent on exports from India. These include textiles, apparel and artisanal products. India also ‘agrees to address long-standing non-tariff barriers to the trade in U.S. Food and Agricultural products.

The United States affirms that it intends to take into consideration, during the negotiations of the BTA (Bilateral Trade Agreement), India’s request that the United States continue to work to lower tariffs on Indian goods.

To understand the impact of waiver of duty to zero, we need to take a look at the previous history of this business of apples. Till 2019, US paid a duty of 50 percent on export of apples to India. As a retaliatory measure for Washington increasing tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium products, India in the year 2019 imposed an additional 20 percent duty on US apples and walnuts, and Rs 20 per kg on almonds in 2019 on top of the existing 50 percent duty.

India agreed to remove additional duty of 20 percent on US apples when Prime Minister Modi visited the US in June, 2023 under one of the six World Trade Organisation disputes India and US resolved. In response to protests by farmers of Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, Piyush Goyal had then waxed eloquent that there is no duty reduction........

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