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And It Begins: India Hikes Custom Duty On Imports From Pakistan To 200 Per Cent After Withdrawing MFN Status
Swarajya Staff
Feb 16, 2019, 09:33 PM | Updated 09:33 PM IST
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday (16 February) announced that India has hiked the custom duty on goods imported from Pakistan by 200 per cent with immediate effect.
Jaitley had resumed charge of the Finance Ministry on Friday (15 February) after relinquishing the portfolio for a brief period while undergoing treatment.
India has withdrawn MFN status to Pakistan after the Pulwama incident. Upon withdrawal, basic customs duty on all goods exported from Pakistan to India has been raised to 200% with immediate effect. #Pulwama
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 16, 2019
This announcement comes after India had withdrawn the “most favoured nation (MFN)” status accorded to the Islamic nation, in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack wherein 38 CRPF jawans were martyred.
This decision to impose a steep customs duty though is not expected to create a big economic impact on Pakistan as the trade between the two countries was about $2 billion in FY18, with India maintaining a trade surplus of around 75 per cent of the exports.
It has been suggested that India on its own cannot unleash economic warfare on Pakistan but can adopt a strategy of putting diplomatic pressure to isolate it internationally.
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