3 min readAug 7, 2026 01:14 PM IST
First published on: Aug 7, 2026 at 01:13 PM IST
Days after the Indo-China border trade through Shipki La pass in Kinnaur was revived following a six-year suspension, traders are refusing to continue operations over the levy of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on goods imported from China. The traditional barter system has run into fresh uncertainty.
The Indo-China Border Trade Union on Thursday submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his intervention through the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Amit Kumar Sharma. The union announced that it was suspending participation in the trade and argued that the IGST was incompatible with the very nature of the traditional barter system.
The union president, Hishey Negi, said, “The one-sided trade has been suspended due to the IGST issue. The barter trade is a traditional system and not a commercial import-export transaction involving monetary payment. Under the Indo-China Border Trade Agreement, notified traders from border villages exchange specified goods directly without any monetary consideration. The imported items are primarily intended for personal and household consumption of registered traders and their families rather than for commercial sale in the open market.”
Meanwhile, officials said the first batch of 16 registered traders, who had crossed the border following a flag-off ceremony by the tribal minister (Himachal Pradesh), Jagat Singh Negi, on September 1, returned on Monday.
“Although the traders returned after doing a trade of around Rs 2.10 lakh. However, they didn’t take their brought (imported) products to their homes when some customs officials calculated the IGST on the imported products at Chupan Trading Centre on the Indian side in district Kinnaur.”
The Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Amit Kumar Sharma, said, “The traders on the Indian side, from the nearby tribal villages, submitted that they would not charge IGST till 2019, and this time, customs officials slapped the IGST on the products. Traders declined to pick up their products from the trading centre where all those products which were brought by them from the Ship Ki village in China were frisked and calculated in view of IGST.”
Sharma said the Indo-China Border Trade Union submitted a memorandum to the PM seeking his intervention through his office. Sharma will forward the memorandum to the PM’s office tomorrow through the proper channel.
The traders contend that the IGST is designed for taxable commercial transactions where goods have an assessable monetary value. They argue that determining a taxable value for goods exchanged without cash payment in a barter system is artificial and imposes an unjustified financial burden.
The traders have urged the Union Government to exempt goods imported through Shipki La from IGST.
They maintained that the transactions are non-commercial, non-monetary and undertaken solely for the welfare and sustenance of notified border communities.
The trade through Shipki La resumed earlier this month after remaining suspended for six years following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions along the India-China border.
CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Tribal Minister Jagat Singh Negi along with ITBP officials at Shipki-La on June 10, 2025. Express photo) 
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