RIYADH: Five commodities captured more than 69 percent of the Saudi imports whose value exceeded SR530 billion by the end of 2015, according to figures released by the Saudi Customs Department.
The five commodities included electric equipment, foodstuffs, transport equipment, ordinary metals and products, and chemical products and plastics.
Electric devices and equipment ranked top of the Saudi imports last year at SR195 billion, or 30 percent of the overall imports, while its exports amounted to SR3.7 billion, the Customs Department stated in a report.
The transport equipment ranked second among the Saudi imports valued at SR119 billion, or 18 percent of the Saudi total imports, while its exports exceeded SR257.5 million.
Foodstuffs ranked the third biggest Saudi imports in the year at SR87.4 billion, or 13.4 percent of the total imports. The Kingdom exported foodstuffs worth SR13.6 billion in the same year, the report said.
On the other hand, chemical products and plastics ranked top of the Saudi non-oil exports at SR118 billion, representing 74 percent of the Kingdom’s non-oil exports. The Kingdom imported chemical products worth SR60.5 billion in the year.
China topped 20 countries from where the Kingdom imported its requirements while non-oil exports to it reached SR27 billion, the report said.
The United States was the second biggest exporting countries to the Kingdom at SR84 billion while non-oil exports reached SR3.5 billion. Germany was the third biggest exporting country to the Kingdom at SR47 billion, according to the report.
The volume of the exempted customs duties covering all kinds of exemptions amounted to SR7 billion in 2015 of which industrial and commercial exemptions stood at SR2 billion, a decrease of 20 percent compared to figures of last year, while exemptions of GCC factory products reached SR1.5 billion, the report said.
Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) received the highest volume of imports valued at SR232 billion while exports through it reached SR8.21 billion.
King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam was the second biggest import receiver at SR6.13 billion while exports reached SR6.17 billion, the report said.
Five commodities capture 69% of Saudi imports in 2015
Five commodities capture 69% of Saudi imports in 2015
India and US release a framework for an interim trade agreement to reduce Trump tariffs
- Under the deal, tariffs on goods from India would be lowered to 18 percent, from 25 percent, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Trump had said.
NEW DELHI: India and the United States released a framework for an interim trade agreement to lower tariffs on Indian goods, which Indian opposition accused of favoring Washington.
The joint statement, released Friday, came after US President Donald Trump announced his plan last week to reduce import tariffs on the South Asian country, six months after imposing steep taxes to press New Delhi to cut its reliance on cheap Russian crude.
Under the deal, tariffs on goods from India would be lowered to 18 percent, from 25 percent, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Trump had said.
The two countries called the agreement “reciprocal and mutually beneficial” and expressed commitment to work toward a broader trade deal that “will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.” The framework said that more negotiations will be needed to formalize the agreement.
India would also “eliminate or reduce tariffs” on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, Friday’s statement said.
The US president had said that India would start to reduce its import taxes on US goods to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products over five years, part of the Trump administration’s bid to seek greater market access and zero tariffs on almost all American exports.
Trump also signed an executive order on Friday to revoke a separate 25 percent tariff on Indian goods he imposed last year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Trump “for his personal commitment to robust ties.”
“This framework reflects the growing depth, trust and dynamism of our partnership,” Modi said on social media, adding it will “further deepen investment and technology partnerships between us.”
India’s opposition political parties have largely criticized the deal, saying it heavily favors the US and negatively impacts sensitive sectors such as agriculture. In the past, New Delhi had opposed tariffs on sectors such as agriculture and dairy, which employ the bulk of the country’s population.
Meanwhile, Piyush Goyal, Indian Trade Minister, said the deal protects “sensitive agricultural and dairy products” including maize, wheat, rice, ethanol, tobacco, and some vegetables.
“This (agreement) will open a $30 trillion market for Indian exporters,” Goyal said in a social media post, referring to the US annual GDP. He said the increase in exports was likely to create hundreds of thousands of new job opportunities.
Goyal also said tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of Indian goods exported to the US, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts, further enhancing the country’s export competitiveness.
India and the European Union recently reached a free trade agreement that could affect as many as 2 billion people after nearly two decades of negotiations. That deal would enable free trade on almost all goods between the EU’s 27 members and India, covering everything from textiles to medicines, and bringing down high import taxes for European wine and cars.
India also signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Oman in December and concluded talks for a free trade deal with New Zealand.
