India maintains 50% import tariff on apples

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China accounts for almost half of all apple imports by India.

  India’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman told the Parliament today that the import tariff on apples of 50% cannot be increased. The minister said that the current tariff is the “bound rate of duty” as per India’s commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and further negotiations are required to increase the import duties on apple imports by India. “The scope for further increase in tariff rates without further negotiation under the WTO regime seems unlikely at present,” she said. According to official sources, India is the world’s fifth largest producer of apples with an annual production of about 2.2 million tonnes. However, India also imports around 186,000 tonnes of apples per year with China accounting for nearly half of those imports.

Source - Ministry of Commerce, India

  The apple industry in India is struggling to compete with imported apples from China and USA. Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh have been hoping that the new government will increase import tariffs on apples to protect the local industry and boost production in India. WTO allows governments to increase import tariff rates on some agriculture products if the products fall under the “Special Products (SPs)” category and affect food security. However, apple is not considered a "Special Product" at present.