EVFTA will heighten competition for Indian textiles: ITF

Once the EVFTA enters into force, 71 per cent of duties will disappear on Vietnamese exports to the EU, and the remainder will be phased out over a period of up to 7 years, according to the decision adopted by European Council earlier this week.

Currently, Vietnam is EU’s second largest trading partner within ASEAN. In 2017, EU’s garment imports from Vietnam stood at €3.3 billion, constituting a 9 per cent share of total clothing imports made by the EU.

“The EVFTA will bring down tariff on Vietnamese knitted and woven apparel to zero from the current level of 9.4 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively. This may bring further competition to us (the Indian textile and apparel industry) along with margin pressures,” ITF said in a statement.

“There is an urgent need to improve the efficiency and also move towards value added products,” it added. (RKS)

ALCHEMPro News Desk – India