Stress On Free Trade Regime To Offset US Tariff Impact On AP Exports
Andhra Pradesh’s year-on-year rise in exports, mainly to the US, which touched Rs 42,946 crore in 2024-25 from Rs 33,479 crore in 2022-23, is likely to see a dent following the levy of 50 per cent import duty on Indian items by the Trump administration.
Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh’s year-on-year rise in exports, mainly to the US, which touched Rs 42,946 crore in 2024-25 from Rs 33,479 crore in 2022-23, is likely to see a dent following the levy of 50 per cent import duty on Indian items by the Trump administration.
In this context, the federation of the state’s commerce and industry has called for India’s optimisation of the free trade regime with Europe and other nations and diversification of products by ensuring quality to explore new international markets to offset the adverse impact.
AP’s top 10 exports comprise marine and pharma products, insecticides, automobile components, chemical products, cement, automobile accessories, barytes and under-garments, collectively worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Of this, items worth Rs 42,946 crore (24.43 per cent) were exported to the US in 2024-25. In 2022-23, total exports were registered at `1,59 lakh crore, in which the US’ share was 33,479 (21 per cent).
In 2023-24, out of total exports pegged at Rs 1.63 lakh crore, the US’ share was Rs 35,912 crore (22 per cent), indicating an annual export growth potential globally and specially to the US from AP.
In such a scenario, stakeholders from commerce and trade have made a series of proposals to be taken up by both AP and the Centre as part of their initiatives to deal with the situation.
Accordingly, they sought optimisation of free trade regime as being worked out with the UK, Europe, UAE and other nations, export incentives like rise in the banks’ working capital limits, interest subvention and a host of other measures to give some relief to the producers, manufacturers, traders, exporters and to all stakeholders to enable them sustain in the market until the adverse period gets over.
They have called for promotion of shrimp consumption in the local markets. Nearly `20,000 crore worth shrimps are being exported to the US alone per annum. India’s per capita consumption of shrimps per annum is pegged at just 300-400gm. This needs to be increased to 1 kg.
The per capita consumption of shrimps in the US and Europe used to be 4-5kg.
AP’s commerce and trade circles have called for a promotional campaign on shrimps’ rich protein content and to ward off fears of their cholesterol content, on lines of egg’s promotion for its protein.
Industry sources say that AP’s intervention with the Centre on the US tariffs issue helped in the withdrawal of 11 per cent excise duty on cotton import by the Centre. This would benefit locally as the imported cotton would be processed to make yarn and apparel, to be exported again.
The trade and commerce circles also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his firm stand against dumping of genetically modified agri products as also dairy and poultry products into India by the US.
The president of the AP Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation, P. Bhaskar, said, “There is no need to panic on the US tariffs issue as we are expecting things to settle down by November. We can keep our products in cold storage facilities for four months. We are optimistic as both AP and the Centre are working together to resolve the present issues.”