Drive in your Harleys, but try our prawns first

Drive in your Harleys, but try our prawns first
TNN

NEW DELHI: The US will have to remove restrictions on export of marine products if it wants India to reduce duties on import of its Harley Davidson bikes, commerce & industry minister Kamal Nath has said. While the commerce department has proposed that there should be duty cuts on high engine capacity bikes in Budget 2008, it would be a difficult task to convince the finance ministry of the same as it has been traditionally opposing the move.

Speaking at the third South Asian conference on trade and development organised by centre for trade and development, the minister said that he will talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about a possible duty cut on Harleys. Mr Nath has already written a letter to PM on the issue.

In April this year, the government had relaxed norms on the import of Euro III-compliant motorcycles with engine capacity of 800cc and above. Many interpreted it as a trade-off for allowing export of Indian mangoes to the US.

Linking a reduction on import duties for Harleys to easing of restrictions on marine exports could help the marine products industry which has been hit by the anti-dumping duties and strict quality norms imposed by the US. India’s export of marine products dropped 19.64% during April-October to 268,254 tonnes from 333,834 tonnes a year ago.

During 2006-07, exports of these products to the US fell 21.60% to 43,851 tonnes against 55,817 tonnes in the previous year. Number of marine product exporters to the US market also dropped to 80 from 107 in 2005-06.

Speaking at the conference, the minister called for providing ‘social security net’ to farmers and harnessing the gains from agriculture through proper restructuring of agriculture sector to ensure a greater movement of the available workforce out of agriculture to manufacturing and services sector.