NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India said Thursday it will raise import tariffs on several electronic items and communication devices, in another move to rein in imports and bolster a falling rupee.
The tariff hike, the second such move by India in a two-week span, was announced late on Thursday by New Delhi as it attempts to raise import barriers to curtail the import of goods it deems as “non-essential” items.
The latest set of increased tariffs could ratchet up trade tensions with the United States and China, among other countries and hurt the likes of network equipment makers such as Cisco Systems Inc, Huawei Technologies Co, ZTE Corp, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung Electronics.
The gambit is part of a plan to contain a slide in the rupee, which has weakened more than 14 per cent against the U.S. dollar this year, hit by a rout in emerging markets and other domestic factors such as a widening current account deficit.
It was not immediately clear how much of a tariff increase is being levied on each specific item, but the Indian government listed several items that could be impacted including wearables like smart watches, Voice over Internet Protocol equipment and phones, and ethernet switches, among other items.
REUTERS