Recent Trade Policy Measures

Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20)

The new Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) launched on 1st April, 2015 links rules, procedures and incentives for exports and imports with other initiatives such as “Make in India”, “Digital India” and “Skills India”.

• It consolidates five different incentive schemes under the earlier policy for rewarding merchandise exports into a single scheme, namely the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).
• For the services sector, the Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) has been introduced replacing the Served from India Scheme.
• The Interest Equalisation scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit was also approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on18th November 2015 w.e.f. 1st April 2015 for 5 years and will be evaluated after three years.
• A new scheme Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) has been approved to be implemented from 2017-18 for 3 years.
• Besides many trade facilitation measures have also been taken like reducing the numberof documents, introducing simplified IEC(Importer Exporter Code) from 1st April 2016, doing away with the issuance of physicalcopy of IEC, sharing export realization datawith states and encouraging states to prepare their export strategies resulting in 17 states preparing their export strategies, simplifying Aayat Niryat forms, etc.

Anti-Dumping Measures

• In 2015, 230 anti-dumping investigations were initiated by all countries with USA overtaking India, initiating about 42 investigations. However, in 2016, India has again become the highest initiator of anti-dumping investigations initiating 69out of a total of 228 investigations initiated by G-20 members, followed by the USA (37)and Australia (25) (WTO, 2017).
• Since the global slowdown, complaints of dumping have been rising. India conducts anti-dumping investigations on the basis of applications filed by the domestic industry with prima facie evidence of dumping of goods in the country, injury to the domestic industry and causal link between dumping and injury to the domestic industry.
• During the fiscal year 2016-17, India initiated 44 anti-dumping investigations and issued preliminary findings in 5 anti-dumping investigations, final findings in 28 anti-dumping investigations, and final finding in one anti-circumvention of anti-dumping duty investigation.