Vijayawada: AP Chambers president Potluri Bhaskara Rao said here on Thursday that the impact of 50 percent US tariffs on exports has affected many sectors in Andhra Pradesh especially aqua, textiles, agri products, auto components and others. The major share of exports from India, worth around USD 83 billion, is to the US and requested the Central government to take measures to diversify exports to other countries to reduce the dependence on the US.

He was addressing the meeting with the affiliated associations of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce of Industry Federation (AP Chambers) organised here. AP Chambers has around 78 affiliated associations representing various sectors in Andhra Pradesh.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the pressing issues faced by different sectors and the impact of US tariffs on exporters.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhaskara Rao said, “We request the Central government to bring back export subsidies, provide better access to working capital facilities, and offer reduced GST rates to affected sectors. The import duty on raw materials should be reduced to make Indian products more competitive in the international markets.”

Bhaskara Rao added, “The State government is yet to release incentives that have been pending for the last 5 to 6 years. We have been requesting the State government to release the long-pending incentives and we believe that the government is now planning to clear all pending incentives by September. This will provide the much-needed impetus to MSMEs. Also, the fuel and power charges are very high in Andhra Pradesh compared to neighbouring states. We have been requesting the government to bring down fuel and power charges to enable our industries to compete with industries from other states.”

Andhra Pradesh has been ranked number one in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) for the past 3 to 4 years. The Chambers recently submitted a detailed representation to both the Central and State governments to improve the EoDB by bringing reforms in the age-old fire, pollution, and building norms, and by extending the validity of NOCs from 1 to 5 years with self-certification option.

AP Chambers general secretary B Raja Sekhar stated that the 50 per cent US tariffs has impacted many sectors in AP including engineering. To mitigate the impact of the tariffs, India sh ould reduce its dependence on the US markets.

The Chambers requested the Central government to bring back schemes such as Marketing Development Assistance (MDA), Market Access Initiative (MAI), Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) and others. The government should implement the proposed two-slab GST rate structure as it will simplify tax compliance for businesses and provide relief to some sectors.

AP Chambers treasurer Akkaiah Naidu, Affiliates Council chairman Bayana Venkat Rao, and Affiliates Council Vice-chairperson Radhika participated in the meeting.

Presidents and secretaries of many state-level industry associations participated in the deliberations.