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Turkey has agreed to annul the 17 per cent anti-circumvention duty on import of Nepalese yarn. Turkey earlier provided duty-free access to Nepalese yarn. It imposed the duty last year alleging Nepalese traders were exporting foreign yarn under domestic brand names.
Alleging that Nepal was exporting Chinese yarn, Turkey had suspended the generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefit on export of yarn from Nepal in January this year. It had cited a considerable growth in export from Nepal — around 190 per cent between 2011 and 2017 — without a reliable domestic production base as the reason for suspending the facility. Nepal exports polyester and viscose blend yarn worth around four billion Nepali rupees to Turkey every year.
Nepal insists its yarn producers, traders and yarn manufacturers export genuine domestically produced yarn. There are four producers of yarn in Nepal and they jointly produce almost 40,000 metric tons of yarn a year. Annually, the country exports more than 80 per cent of locally produced yarn to several countries.
Nepalese yarn amounting to almost seven billion rupees is exported to Turkey every year. Nepal and Turkey established diplomatic relations in 1962. Among Nepal’s exports to Turkey are carpets, pashmina and shawl, and handicrafts. After the earthquakes which struck Nepal in 2015 Turkey delivered humanitarian assistance and took part in rescue operations.
Canada has hit back at the United States with retaliatory tariffs on American summertime essentials such as Florida orange juice, ketchup and Kentucky bourbon. The tit-for-tat duties are a response to the punishing US steel and aluminum tariffs imposed at the start of June.
Canada says the move has been made with regret and very much in sorrow, not in anger against a close ally. Retaliatory tariffs do great damage to the multilateral trading system. Canadians, however, are overwhelmingly in favor of the retaliation. Escalation into an all-out trade war will be devastating to the Canadian economy, which sends about 75 per cent of its exports to the United States. Canadian patriotism, meanwhile, has flourished under hashtags like #BoycottUSA, #BuyCanadian and #VacationCanada that urge people not to buy American goods and travel packages.
Canada and the US are among the world’s two largest trading partners with an estimated $673.9 billion worth of goods and services exchanged in 2017, with the US scoring a small surplus. The United States also is the top destination for Canadian vacationers, who made 42 million trips to the US in 2017. But relations between these two neighbors have plunged to their lowest in decades.
The 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact is preparing for its next stage of expansion. Japan and Mexico have ratified the pact. The Asia free trade bloc now needs four more member states to complete similar procedures to kick the process into next stage. TPP-11 takes effect 60 days after six of its 11 members ratify the pact.
Among the current members, Canada, New Zealand and Australia have taken steps toward ratification. Singapore and Chile aim to approve the deal by the end of year. The other members are Peru, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Thailand, Colombia, Indonesia and the UK have expressed interest in joining. Indonesia feels that not joining the pact risks harming the competitiveness of exports from southeast Asia’s largest economy. The US withdrew from the original TPP deal in January 2017.
TPP-11 is poised to create a free trade zone covering 13 per cent of the global gross domestic product and 15 per cent of global trade by value. GDP in the 10 members other than Japan is set to grow more than six per cent annually through 2023. Clear, unified rules on investment in the pact will greatly expand business opportunities in the economic bloc, which would trail only the US, China and the European Union in size.
Textile machinery exports from India registered a growth of 20.03 per cent 2017-18. Top 10 export markets are: Bangladesh, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Vietnam, Italy and UAE.
Spinning, twisting and yarn preparation machines have a 35 per cent share in India’s textile machinery exports. Bangladesh is the topmost export market for India's textile machinery. Region wise, Asia is the largest market for Indian textile machinery, accounting for a 55 per cent share of textile machinery exports.
Cotton spinning ring frames exports account for a 59 per cent share. Cotton spinning ring frame machines are majorly exported to the Netherlands. Other important markets for India’s ring frames are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cotton combing machines registered an export growth of 16.93 per cent for 2017-18. Vietnam is the top market for cotton combing machine exports.
Exports of printing machinery, including digital printing machines, fell in 2015-16 and 2016-17 by 14.6 per cent and 9.97 per cent. But in the last fiscal year the commodity has shown a rising trend with a growth of 24.3 per cent and having a 14 per cent share in total textile machinery exports. Bangladesh is the topmost market for this product.
The textile and apparel industry in Vietnam is expected to grow 14 per cent over the next two years and a further 10 per cent by 2030. This sector has the second highest export turnover and occupies the fifth position in the world. Last year saw goods worth $31 billion, exported, representing 10.23 per cent year-on-year increase. The rapid growth rate was expected to continue this year with an estimated turnover of $33 billion.
In addition to maintaining traditional markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea, Vietnamese garment and textile firms have been expanding to new areas such as China, Russia and Cambodia. It also promotes the development of the cotton fiber industry; petrochemical industry and other textile supporting industries as well as trading, services, and fashion industry.
Government policies have played an important role to help businesses develop. Vietnam’s vocational training policies in the industry had not been effective and would need further support.
Marks & Spencer’s waistcoats sales have soared 35 per cent since the FIFA tournament began two weeks ago in a phenomenon that's being called ‘Gareth Southgate’ effect. when Gareth Southgate eventually does return home, he will see an awful lot more waistcoats around the country. England manager has apparently sparked a significant increase in waistcoat purchases thanks to his match attire at the World Cup in Russia.
For each of England's three group games, Southgate has sported a formal look of a fully-buttoned navy waistcoat over a pale blue shirt, accompanied by a navy, red and white striped tie. Marks & Spencer, who has been the official suit supplier to the England national team since 2007, made replicas of the suit for fans. The accompanying tie will set supporters back £25.
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has appealed to the Federal government to relax the tough conditions attached to disbursement of the Textile Intervention Fund. The appeal will relax the bureaucracy and strict conditions surrounding the allocation of the funds and also because there is a need to revitalise the textile industry. The textile industry had suffered a lot as a result of smuggling and other infrastructure deficiencies. At the moment, there are not more than five textile industries working who are functioning at low capacity.
The government had responded its policy initiatives; primary of which is the Textile Fund anchored by the Central Bank of Nigeria. But, manufacturers are finding it difficult to benefit from the fund due to some bottlenecks and strict conditions attached to it.
MAN also urged the government to continue its effort at ensuring provision of basic infrastructure to reduce the cost of production by manufacturers. It suggested inter-ministerial and inter-departmental cooperation for quick actualisation of the proposed anti- smuggling task force to combat smuggling of textiles.
As per Turkish Clothing Manufacturer’s Association (TGSD), the country’s apparel exports of $17 billion would increase to $18 billion this year and reach around $25 billion in five years. Top domestic textile sector players have stressed the importance of environment-friendly and quality products to make the rise in demand sustainable.
Leading apparel supplier Colveta, which every year purchases $46 million worth products from Turkey, plans to raise its purchase to $75 million within five years. The company buys around 30 per cent of its products from Turkey which it plans to raise it to 50 per cent. Hermes Otto aims to increase purchases from Turkey to over $115 million in 2018, a 7 percent growth. Verner, one of the major buyers, would increase its apparel order currently $63 million, by 5 to 10 percent this year. Near East Manufacturing, on the other hand, is ready to increase its $100 million order by 10 percent.
Devan Chemicals has launched a technology- Purissimo™ a probiotic-based solution that make textiles free from allergens shed by cats and dogs. The technology is based on probiotic bacteria and therefore, completely natural. First, inactive probiotic bacteria are encapsulated into microcapsules.
These microcapsules are then integrated into textiles. When the fabric is exposed to friction, the microcapsules break open and release the spores. The spores absorb humidity, are then transformed into probiotic bacteria and start to consume the organic matter, which contains the various allergens that cause allergic reactions and asthma. Test results show a significant reduction of 92.8 per cent on the amount of cat hair allergen Fel d1 found in treated samples.
Since many studies have suggested that allergic diseases have increased in frequency, Devan thought it was about time someone came up with a solution. After months of testing, the company came out with a solution for allergies triggered by pets such as cats and dogs.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has taken up major grievances in the textile cluster with the commerce minister Suresh Prabhu. The CM has requested the Union minister to increase the interest subvention from 3 per cent to 5 per cent for the apparel sector. This apart, the exporters’ plea for increasing the duty drawback to remain cost competitive in the global markets was also highlighted.
The exporters in Tirupur cluster are also struggling to get a level playing field in European and American apparel markets due to the preferential trade tariff advantages enjoyed by Bangladesh and few other direct competitor countries. For this, the chief minister has suggested expedition of signing of free trade agreements with European Union, United States of America and United Kingdom.
