India: Success Story - It's Been a Tough Nut to Crack but India is all in on Pecans with the Tariff Reduction

On February 1, 2023, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India presented its annual Union Budget to the Lok Sabha (lower parliament house) for Indian fiscal year 2023/2024 (April 1-March 31). In its Finance Bill, 2023 (No. 02/2023-Customs), the Finance Ministry announced changes in customs and central excise duty rates for various commodities, including pecans. Effective April 1, 2023 and pending approval by the Lok Sabha, India has reduced its basic custom duty on pecans from 100 percent to 30 percent, while rescinding the previous Social Welfare Surcharge. Resulting from this success, FAS New Delhi (Post) projects U.S. pecan exports potentially expanding to $2-5 million annually in this burgeoning market for U.S. tree nuts, the combined value of which exceeded $1 billion in 2022. In 2022, the United States exported around 109 metric tons (MT) of pecans to India, valued at over $1.3 million.