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Journalism of Courage
Duty gainsWho gains when the import duties fall? Foreign companies who swamp India with their cheaper products or Indian exporters who improve their performance abroad. A study of the relationship between import duties and the export of India shows some surprising results. India8217;s exports rose as a percentage of the total world exports as the import duties fell. Based on figures of World Trade Organisation and International Monetary Fund, the study tracks the fall of duties from 1990.
When the tariff fell from 127.6 per cent in 1991 to 94 per cent in 1992, the share of exports went up from 0.51 per cent to 0.53 per cent. In 1997, when the tariffs fell to 34.2 per cent, the share in exports went up to 0.62 per cent. While the rise appears small in per cent terms, it is actually quite high as total global exports in 1997 was over 5.5 billion.
