The country's gems and jewellery exports declined by 16.26 percent to $ 2.82 billion in June. The export of gems and ornaments has affected the US-China trade war.
According to the figures released by the Gem and jewellery Export Promotion Council on Monday, gems and jewellery exports in June stood at $ 2.82 billion, which was 3.37 billion dollars in June 2018.
Council Vice-Chairman Colin Shah said that demand from China has affected the trade war between the world's two largest economies. China is the second-largest market for India's sharp and polished diamonds.
US President Donald Trump has warned China to impose more duty on imports. Bilateral negotiations have not progressed much in this regard. This has affected market sentiment. Shah said that due to this issue the demand from the US has also slowed down.
He said that due to this, the demand for open diamonds from China has also affected. Shah said that there are several domestic issues besides this which are affecting this area. These are mostly policy issues … For example, the high level of customs duty and the crisis of cash started after GST, Neerav Modi and Mehul Choksi scam.
He said that the lack of stock has also affected manufacturing. This has also affected exports. During the April-June period of the quarter, exports declined 10.38 percent to $ 9.18 billion, from $ 10.25 billion in the same quarter last year.
Gold jewellery exports fell 15.41 percent to $ 91.38 million in June, from $ 1.08 billion in June, 2018. In the first quarter, exports fell 6.22 percent to $ 3.03 billion, from $ 3.23 billion in the same quarter last fiscal.
Export of cut and polished diamonds declined by 19.38 percent to $ 1.68 billion in June, which was $ 2.08 billion in June, 2018. On a quarterly basis, exports decreased 17.33 percent to $ 6.29 billion from $ 5.20 billion.
Recently, the government has imposed a 2.5% import duty on all precious metals including gold and silver. After this, import duty on gold and silver like gold has increased from 10 percent to 12.5 percent. These also seem to be 3 percent GST. So, the total tax was 15.5 percent.
