R. VIMAL KUMAR
TIRUPUR, JULY 3
With China being the ‘nominated source’ of purchase for a whole gamut of accessories in the garment production chain, the chorus for ‘Boycott Chinese products’ has put the knitwear exporters Catch-22 situation.
The Tirupur exporters cannot sever the ties with China quickly as someone thinks since they were heavily dependent on Chinese products at different stages of apparel production due to the ‘insistence of foreign buyers’.
The data from the industry sources indicate that almost 90 percent of the accessories, including zips, buttons, labels, tags, and badges, among few other items, used for the manufacture of garments sourced by the foreign buyers from Tirupur cluster were imported from China.
Apart from these, raw materials for making reactive dyes and chemicals too come from China, sources added.
Non-clearance of Chinese products by customs dept hits delivery schedule
Rubbing the metaphorical salt into the wounds of the exporters who otherwise was hit by COVID-19, the non-clearance of some imported consignments of accessories from China subsequent to the border issues has added to their cup of woes.
“We (Tirupur Exporters Association) have now made an appeal to the Union Commerce Ministry to clear the stranded import consignments at various sea and airports. The Customs authorities say they could proceed only if they get approval from Central Government,” said Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) president Raja M Shanmugam.
The exporters cautioned that such clearance delays could affect the delivery schedule of garments. “This, in turn, will have end up in losing further orders”, they pointed out.
‘Nominated Source’ – China – produces high quality materials
The concept of ‘nominated source’ in the purchase of accessories leaves the exporters with no other choice of replacing those accessories with Indian-made or with any other country-made items since foreign buyers insist Chinese products due to its high quality, .
“The foreign buyers usually nominate a source for the purchase of accessories to ensure uniform standards with the same buyers too would be sourcing garments from production cluster in other nations too,” explained Shanmugam.
Constructive steps needed to reduce dependence on China
The exporters feel that the country needs a ‘productive’ road map for the future, rather than mere rhetoric and symbolic steps, to reduce dependency on China. “We conventionally ridicule Chinese products as ‘low quality’ to cover up our own inefficiencies, which are not true at all today,” said Shanmugam.
(R. Vimal Kumar is a Freelance Journalist based at Tirupur)
