New Delhi: In the wake of trade disruptions triggered by the fallout of US tariffs and the retaliatory action from China on the back of a high import dependency med device makers in India have called for invoking safeguard duty over “12 category devices” to save domestic industry interest and avoid a “severe injury.”
The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) has urged the Department of Commerce to “impose safeguard duties on 12 key medical device categories, warning that uncontrolled imports are putting domestic manufacturers at risk.”
In addition to this, “the likelihood of lowering import duty for EU and US under the ongoing negotiations could cause severe injury and underutilization of the domestic Industry capacity,” it added.
The twelve devices categories over which the industry body is seeking higher import duty includes syringes, needles, where imports have jumped from from $61 million to $111 million and diagnostic reagent kits whose imports have surged by 23 per cent.
Last week, writing a letter to the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, AIMED Forum Coordinator Rajiv Nath had voiced to keep a “Basic Customs Duty of 15 per cent for products with over ₹100 crore exports to protect domestic investment for 5 years as a Predictable Tariff Policy.”
In its letter the Industry body had stated that the exports of medical devices have fallen from 12 per cent to 6 per cent and whereas the imports remained “unabated at 8.9 per cent” from 9 per cent in the corresponding period.
Over the concerns raised by various exporters across different industries, the Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had informed Industry stakeholders that, “the Department of Commerce and DGFT are actively tracking developments in global trade, particularly in relation to tariff changes, import surges, and export-related challenges.”
“Given the evolving trade landscape and the introduction of various tariff and counter-tariff measures, DGFT has operationalised a dedicated ‘Global Tariff and Trade Helpdesk’ to assist stakeholders in navigating emerging trade issues,” the senior official added.
As per the official communication, “the Global Tariff Challenges Help Desk’ would look into issues relating to Import and Export Challenges, Import Surges or Dumping and will co-ordinate to seek their support and provide possible resolution.”
In the light of recent developments between the US and China the body has feared a possibility of dumping of goods from China, given their rising stakes in the country’s total medical device imports.
“In Africa Middle East (WANA) & CIS the International Prices are depressed and Chinese Products are being dumped due to excess capacity,” the letter stated.
As per AIMED, the Imports of critical medical devices have seen a surge, particularly from China, Germany, Singapore, US and Netherlands, of which China accounts for 33.47 per cent of the total increase, making it the largest device exporter for the country.
However, in terms of total imports value, the data shared by the industry body suggest that between April and December 2024 US stands as the largest exporter to the country with a total of $243.52 million worth of medical devices, followed by China with a total import value of $170.71 million.
