US tariffs on China causing container shortages: Exporters at review meet
US tariffs on China causing container shortages: Exporters at review meet
Indian exporters are facing shortages of containers and shipping space as Chinese exporters are scrambling to ship their goods before the recently announced US tariffs on Chinese goods come into effect on August 1, exporters have flagged during the first review meeting chaired by commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday, sources told The Indian Express.
This comes after the US announced an increase in tariffs on a range of Chinese imports including electric vehicles, batteries, computer chips and medical products. While the import duties on Chinese Electric Vehicles (EVs) were increased sharply to over 100 per cent, duty on semiconductors were raised to 50 per cent.
Exporters during the review meeting that was attended by senior commerce ministry officials, key export promotion councils and union minister of state for commerce and industry ministry Jitin Prasada also raised instances of congestion at several ports as key concerns being faced by exporters amid the Red Sea crisis.
“The stock taking review meeting that is being planned to take place every month saw discussions on a range of key issues that exporters were facing. Exporters raised issues such as the Red Sea crisis and the container shortages that have begun happening ever since China is rushing to export its products before the tariffs come into effect on August 1,” a source told The Indian Express.
“Other issues such as rising non-tariffs barriers that could disrupt Indian exports such as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), European Union’s Deforestation law and Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation were also taken up. Exporters sought the extension of interest equalization scheme to tide over high interest rates,” the person quoted above said.
Reuters reported that global port congestion has reached an 18-month high, with 60 per cent of ships waiting at anchor located in Asia as ship timetables are being disrupted with missed sailing schedules and fewer port calls, as vessels take longer routes around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where Yemen's Houthi group has been attacking shipping since November last year.
Congestion at Singapore's container port is at its worst as vessels continue to get rerouted to avoid Red Sea attacks that have disrupted global ocean shipping, exporters said.
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