Govt asks industry to suggest appropriate tariff rates for APEC talks

NEW DELHI: Asking industry to suggest an appropriate tariff structrure which the government can pursue at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation negotiations, a senior Commerce Ministry official today said neither a very high, nor zero duties, are good for the economy.

Arvind Mehta, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said India understands that high tariffs are not favorable but at the same time zero tariffs would also hurt the economy.

He urged the industry to "recommend appropriate tariff rates that the government could propose at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) membership negotiations".

APEC members include Australia, Canada, China and Japan.

Mehta was speaking at a stakeholder' consultation on 'India and APEC: Issues and Options' organised by industry body Ficci and the Centre for WTO Studies.

Quoting the additional secretary, the chamber said in a statement that the APEC member countries were creating a narrative that India should take certain policy measures to signal its commitment to APEC's vision and improve its chances for APEC accession.

"The narrative may require India to make binding concessions for securing APEC membership. Therefore, it was necessary that industry voiced its opinion with respect to their expectations and apprehensions from India's membership at APEC," he said.

He also said that India needs to consider the takeaways from the partnership as well as the losses that it would incur to become a member and added that India may have to propose a Voluntary Individual Action Plan to project its aspirations to member countries to eliminate their concerns.

India has indicated its willingness to be a member of APEC earlier as well and was re-engaging in the issue but the government needed the industry's views on how competitiveness, trade facilitation, ease of doing business would be further enhanced to meet the APEC standards, he added.

Abhijit Das, Head of the Centre for WTO Studies, said India should consider joining APEC only if it is confident of undertaking reforms in all areas of activities of APEC.

Speaking at the event, Ficci Secretary General A Didar Singh said India has shown an inclination towards joining APEC and this could greatly benefit the industry.

The voluntary and non-binding APEC partnership would allow India to forge free trade agreements and strengthen its supply chain, he said.