There are similarities between buying gemstones and art. Both are subjective concepts + in order to make smart choices one should be knowledgeable + you should be lucky enough to get unbiased information.
(via Livemint) Manju Sara Rajan writes:
The term ‘affordable art’ might sound like an oxymoron, but is possible to buy work that’s reasonably priced. Here’s our guide.
For Avinash Gowariker, a buy is only a buy once the homework’s done. On a late Saturday afternoon, he’s crouched over a collection of pictures strewn across the floor inside Gallery Chemould in South Mumbai. The studio’s clearance sale, on at the Jehangir Art Gallery, is exactly the sort of event Gowariker trawls to find what he’s looking for: works of art that fit his budget and scheme.
When he locates an Akhilesh etching, he calls a friend at another gallery to check the price at which they sell similar works of the artist. Once he’s assured he’s on to a good thing, Gowariker decides it’s a buy. “They sell his works for much higher. I’ve got a great deal on this one,” he says triumphantly. By the end of the afternoon, 35-year-old Gowariker has purchased two distinct etchings by Naina Dalal and Akhilesh for under Rs15,000. “I didn’t come here with any idea of whether I’d buy, I just came with a credit card and stayed within the budget,” says Gowariker.
Gowariker’s purchases fall within that shifty realm of “affordable art” which, by broad definition, refers to works priced within the Rs1 lakh range. He is part of a growing breed of art consumers who are looking beyond the bold print about the Indian art market to invest into it, smartly, at the lower end, and still make percentage returns. Outside New Delhi, in Gurgaon, Reena and Jesper Lindorff entered the ring because they believe art is an essential aspect of their lives. “Artworks are an important part of the home, and not just considered accessories. It is the art, in fact, which defines spaces,” says Reena.
In between the big digits and big names of today’s $350 million (about Rs1,435 crore) art market, it’s easy to be overawed by the idea of buying art. Despite widespread speculation that the market is stabilizing, with 100% growth a matter of the past, very little of the high-end world of art is still affordable. To get an idea of that end of the market: At the latest Sotheby’s auction in May, the biggest sale was F.N. Souza’s Head, which went for $528,000. “Most people are intimidated by the notion of art, thinking that real art is out of their reach,” says Kalpana Shah, owner of Mumbai’s Tao Art Gallery. “Buyers have to keep their eyes open to the right thing and make smarter choices,” says Shah.
While many aspire to purchase a “real” work of art, few know what or how to buy, often opting for supermarket art rather than looking at the lower end of the genuine art market, which is made up of three broad areas: the works of new artists, photography and prints, both mass reproductions and artist-signed graphics. All of these options range in cost from a few thousand rupees for open-edition unsigned reproductions (or posters) to a few lakh rupees for the signed print of a master.
The other spectrum of art is the kind sold at Satguru’s Arts & Crafts, a Mumbai handicrafts store, where a 36”x48” oil painting of a village scene, which has zero resale value, costs Rs81,000—much, much more than Gowariker’s afternoon purchases at Chemould. So, lift the canvas slightly, and there are plenty of ways to participate in the genuine art market that are worth every paisa you spend.
The key is to begin right. Gowariker believes in the idiom, “six degrees of separation”. Over the past one year, the celebrity photographer has, through friends and connections and by sheer force of charm, amassed an enviable collection of works of art. “When I started, I was into art for the money. I didn’t have money for real estate and didn’t understand the stock market.” But he says he educated himself on the subject and talked to people who were already in the market, and now knows exactly what he’s looking for, and the resale value of his pieces. “It’s important to get unbiased information, so I picked up auction catalogues and went on the Internet, which is neutral.”
On the strength of that self-education, Gowariker has collected more than 15 high-value works—including Akhilesh, Prokash Karmakar, Yashwant Deshmukh, a paperwork of Jogen Chowdhury, and K.S. Radhakrishnan sculptures—for much less than they are worth today. “Now, I’m looking for blue chips, my dream buy is, of course, M.F. Husain. Husain is the dada,” he says.
The Lindorffs are into the emerging and lesser knowns. Through the door of their three-bedroom apartment, on the right-hand side, is an untitled piece by an artist called Sandip. The couple picked this up for Rs14,000 from Picturesque, at New Delhi’s Santushti Shopping Complex. “The purple and orange contrast of this oil on canvas is stunning, and we hope adds a touch of sophistication and warmth to the entrance area,” says Reena. The rest of their house has a melange of abstract art, photographs and lithographs by artists from Kolkata, Delhi, Sweden and the US. “We love to purchase art pieces which are unique and are not as interested in the name of the artist per se. The painting comes first, and then the artist,” says Reena, 35.
Whether it’s an upcoming artist or an established one, the art world offers plenty of choices. And keeping that in mind, we sought out folks who have found valuable, yet affordable, ways to indulge the art market. (Karishma Singh contributed to this story.)
More info @ http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/30000247/The-price-is-right.html
Monday, July 02, 2007
The Science Of Shopping
Malcolm Gladwell writes about the American shopper + stores, including the new flagship designer boutiques @ http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_11_04_a_shopping.htm
Justice Needs To Be Done – Without Damaging Noises Or Loss Of Perspective
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for diamond merchants in Belgium + the detailed aspects of the diamond industry’s AML/CFT regime + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26425
Ancient Irish Pearls
(via The Journal of Gemmology, Vol.13, No.1, January 1972) C J Robb writes:
The freshwater pearl of the bivalve unio margaritifera, the animated gem, the ‘na seod’ in Gaelic, was found in the crystal clear meandering rivers of Ireland from the mists of history. It was the prized jewel of the ancient queens, princesses, and fair ladies of those distant times and the hierarchy of the Church regarded it as a token of respect. Bishop Gillbertus of Limerick, gave the Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Anselm, a pearl as a token of his respect in 1094.
Con O’Neill, Prince of Ulster in 1493, bestowed pearls ‘of riches’ on ladies. In 1656 the river Slaney in Co. Wexford was prolific, says Richards, an English writer, in fine pearls of fair luster, magnitude, and rotundity, not inferior to Oriental gems at prices from 20s, to 40s, to the silversmiths and jewelers of London. Sir Robert Reading described pearls from the rivers of Co. Tyrone to the Royal Society in 1688. These gems were mostly of a pale brownish color, some with a greenish tinge. Some of these of good quality weighing up to 36 carats were valued up to £40. A miller found a pearl in the mill race, which he sold for £4 10s and the buyer sold it to Lady Glenawley for which she refused an offer of £80 from the Duchess of Ormond. The Bann River, at Banbridge in Co. Down, was rich in these pearls and a small industry was established to collect, polish and sell them to the best buyers in Dublin, London and Paris. Queen Charlotte had a necklace of Bann pearls valued at £700, one of 4 carats being valued at £60. The river pearls of Ireland had thus an abiding place in the annals of gemology.
The freshwater pearl of the bivalve unio margaritifera, the animated gem, the ‘na seod’ in Gaelic, was found in the crystal clear meandering rivers of Ireland from the mists of history. It was the prized jewel of the ancient queens, princesses, and fair ladies of those distant times and the hierarchy of the Church regarded it as a token of respect. Bishop Gillbertus of Limerick, gave the Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Anselm, a pearl as a token of his respect in 1094.
Con O’Neill, Prince of Ulster in 1493, bestowed pearls ‘of riches’ on ladies. In 1656 the river Slaney in Co. Wexford was prolific, says Richards, an English writer, in fine pearls of fair luster, magnitude, and rotundity, not inferior to Oriental gems at prices from 20s, to 40s, to the silversmiths and jewelers of London. Sir Robert Reading described pearls from the rivers of Co. Tyrone to the Royal Society in 1688. These gems were mostly of a pale brownish color, some with a greenish tinge. Some of these of good quality weighing up to 36 carats were valued up to £40. A miller found a pearl in the mill race, which he sold for £4 10s and the buyer sold it to Lady Glenawley for which she refused an offer of £80 from the Duchess of Ormond. The Bann River, at Banbridge in Co. Down, was rich in these pearls and a small industry was established to collect, polish and sell them to the best buyers in Dublin, London and Paris. Queen Charlotte had a necklace of Bann pearls valued at £700, one of 4 carats being valued at £60. The river pearls of Ireland had thus an abiding place in the annals of gemology.
Promoting And Merchandising Colored Stones
2007: It's really inspiring, to read Jacques Sabbagh's views on how to sell colored stones. He wrote/addressed this nearly three decades ago, and the truth is his concept still works today. You can still deal with the same sophisiticated, well-informed consumers the old fashioned way.
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.XVII, No.3, July 1980) Jacques Sabbagh writes:
It is a privilege for me to address you this evening on the subject of promoting and merchandising colored gems, and it would be a pleasure indeed if I am permitted to do so in an informal way. By your leave I shall start, if I may, on a rather personal note. People who happen to know about the story of my life, seventeen years of which were devoted to medical studies and to the practice of medicine, often ask me with astonishment, ‘How come you changed horses midstream? What made you quit this most noble, this most essential profession, to get involved in the business of colored gems?’— these and similar transparent questions thus implying that my present activity in the jewelry trade is a comparatively futile one and colored gems are rather superfluous commodities. Well, not only do I immensely enjoy my present occupation, but also I happen to be very proud of it. Indeed, I do not believe that jewels are superfluous commodities. I am convinced that they satisfy one of the basic needs and that jewelers cater for one of the fundamental requirement of human nature.
As Thomas Caryle, the 19th century Scots essayist and historian said: ‘The first spiritual want of barbarous man is decoration.’ By this he meant self-adornment, and this is an anthropological fact, substantiated by our observation of the behavior of primitive man of aboriginal tribes still inhabiting certain recesses of the jungle and isolated areas of our planet, as well as by various archaeological findings. Caveman, primitive man invariably demonstrates a tendency for self-adornment by using any handy object that lends itself to this purpose. At the same time, he would attribute occult powers to articles he uses for personal decoration, whether they be perishable items such as bird feathers or plant seeds, or non-perishable objects, as for instance sea shells, animal teeth and claws, or mineral crystals. He would pierce them and then string them and wear them for their often inextricably ambivalent functions: the supernatural power of talismans and charms and the beautifying property of jewelry. In actual fact, excluding the other members of the genus Homo, none of the components of the animal kingdom, even the higher primates, the anthropoid apes, our closest evolutionary ancestors and collateral relatives, exhibit any marked sign of beauty appreciation. It seems that the emergence of a sense of aesthetics, sufficiently compelling to induce artificial additions to the anatomy of even sometimes minor surgical alternations of it, has occurred more or less parallel to the development of language, tools and culture.
Now, with your permission, I would like to venture a diagnosis. Jewelry enterprises that neglect the field of colored gems, that to various degrees discard them from their inventory, are—forgive me for saying so—colorblind. The same way an individual affected by Daltonism, that is colorblindness, misses out on a lot of the beauty, of the glory, of the colorfulness of life and nature around him, seeing them as it were, in different shades of black and white as though he were watching a telecast on the screen of a non-color television set, or a black and white movie picture, a jewelry concern that persists in ignoring the field of colored gems is missing out in incalculable opportunities for profit-making.
Let me sketch out for you a very familiar sequence. When a young woman is considering buying her first piece of jewelry she will, as you know, seek the jeweler almost invariably for a diamond ring. The reason for this is twofold:
1. Diamond, the King of the gem world, is the most prestigious thing to wear, and
2. Diamonds, like pearls, can be used quite indifferently with practically any dress color or style.
Later on, as and when affluence brings its mixed blessings into her life, this young lady will again look up the jeweler for, probably, a diamond brooch or pendant. Sometime later, she may consider changing her ring for a large and more important diamond. To cut a not very long story short, she may eventually look for a pair of diamond earrings; and here it will very likely come to an end, the point of saturation being reached.
On the other hand, once this very same lady develops a sophisticated taste for colored gems, something which requires a certain gratifying dexterousness, some degree of selectiveness in seasonal as well as color matching of jewel and dress—once she starts buying and using them, this new sequence will never end. Her desire for colored gems will prove quite insatiable, due to the enormous variety and the practically endless combinations. The point of saturation in this case is unreachable, it is elusive, unattainable. To put it in a nutshell, colored gems constitute a dimension that extends far beyond the dimension of diamonds. We can have only one monarch: Diamond. The number of princes and barons on the other hand is theoretically unlimited; consequently, colored gems offer, literally, a golden opportunity to the jeweler.
Now, we have to face this question: How can the individual jeweler get into the field of colored gems, or if he is already handling colored gems as a sideline, or even as a main line, how can he develop this branch to its maximum potentiality? In answer to this question, three factors have to be considered. These are:
1. The inventory
2. The point of sale merchandising
3. The sales techniques
Promoting And Merchandising Colored Stones (continued)
(via Journal of Gemmology, Vol.XVII, No.3, July 1980) Jacques Sabbagh writes:
It is a privilege for me to address you this evening on the subject of promoting and merchandising colored gems, and it would be a pleasure indeed if I am permitted to do so in an informal way. By your leave I shall start, if I may, on a rather personal note. People who happen to know about the story of my life, seventeen years of which were devoted to medical studies and to the practice of medicine, often ask me with astonishment, ‘How come you changed horses midstream? What made you quit this most noble, this most essential profession, to get involved in the business of colored gems?’— these and similar transparent questions thus implying that my present activity in the jewelry trade is a comparatively futile one and colored gems are rather superfluous commodities. Well, not only do I immensely enjoy my present occupation, but also I happen to be very proud of it. Indeed, I do not believe that jewels are superfluous commodities. I am convinced that they satisfy one of the basic needs and that jewelers cater for one of the fundamental requirement of human nature.
As Thomas Caryle, the 19th century Scots essayist and historian said: ‘The first spiritual want of barbarous man is decoration.’ By this he meant self-adornment, and this is an anthropological fact, substantiated by our observation of the behavior of primitive man of aboriginal tribes still inhabiting certain recesses of the jungle and isolated areas of our planet, as well as by various archaeological findings. Caveman, primitive man invariably demonstrates a tendency for self-adornment by using any handy object that lends itself to this purpose. At the same time, he would attribute occult powers to articles he uses for personal decoration, whether they be perishable items such as bird feathers or plant seeds, or non-perishable objects, as for instance sea shells, animal teeth and claws, or mineral crystals. He would pierce them and then string them and wear them for their often inextricably ambivalent functions: the supernatural power of talismans and charms and the beautifying property of jewelry. In actual fact, excluding the other members of the genus Homo, none of the components of the animal kingdom, even the higher primates, the anthropoid apes, our closest evolutionary ancestors and collateral relatives, exhibit any marked sign of beauty appreciation. It seems that the emergence of a sense of aesthetics, sufficiently compelling to induce artificial additions to the anatomy of even sometimes minor surgical alternations of it, has occurred more or less parallel to the development of language, tools and culture.
Now, with your permission, I would like to venture a diagnosis. Jewelry enterprises that neglect the field of colored gems, that to various degrees discard them from their inventory, are—forgive me for saying so—colorblind. The same way an individual affected by Daltonism, that is colorblindness, misses out on a lot of the beauty, of the glory, of the colorfulness of life and nature around him, seeing them as it were, in different shades of black and white as though he were watching a telecast on the screen of a non-color television set, or a black and white movie picture, a jewelry concern that persists in ignoring the field of colored gems is missing out in incalculable opportunities for profit-making.
Let me sketch out for you a very familiar sequence. When a young woman is considering buying her first piece of jewelry she will, as you know, seek the jeweler almost invariably for a diamond ring. The reason for this is twofold:
1. Diamond, the King of the gem world, is the most prestigious thing to wear, and
2. Diamonds, like pearls, can be used quite indifferently with practically any dress color or style.
Later on, as and when affluence brings its mixed blessings into her life, this young lady will again look up the jeweler for, probably, a diamond brooch or pendant. Sometime later, she may consider changing her ring for a large and more important diamond. To cut a not very long story short, she may eventually look for a pair of diamond earrings; and here it will very likely come to an end, the point of saturation being reached.
On the other hand, once this very same lady develops a sophisticated taste for colored gems, something which requires a certain gratifying dexterousness, some degree of selectiveness in seasonal as well as color matching of jewel and dress—once she starts buying and using them, this new sequence will never end. Her desire for colored gems will prove quite insatiable, due to the enormous variety and the practically endless combinations. The point of saturation in this case is unreachable, it is elusive, unattainable. To put it in a nutshell, colored gems constitute a dimension that extends far beyond the dimension of diamonds. We can have only one monarch: Diamond. The number of princes and barons on the other hand is theoretically unlimited; consequently, colored gems offer, literally, a golden opportunity to the jeweler.
Now, we have to face this question: How can the individual jeweler get into the field of colored gems, or if he is already handling colored gems as a sideline, or even as a main line, how can he develop this branch to its maximum potentiality? In answer to this question, three factors have to be considered. These are:
1. The inventory
2. The point of sale merchandising
3. The sales techniques
Promoting And Merchandising Colored Stones (continued)
Sunday, July 01, 2007
The Beauty Of Inclusions
The god fathers of gemstone inclusions shares their passion + the inner gemscapes of colored stones in colorful language (s).
Edward Gubelin / John Koivula writes:
The world of human conception is predominantly one of vision, and thus a world of light, color and form—all three phenomenological expressions of inclusions in gemstones. Their liveliness, their transitory play of light, meets not merely with the commonsense of beauty; they are even a functional necessity to human beings. Color is the most beautiful manifestation of light; the ornamentation of one of the most perceptible displays of the material world, through both one experiences a beguiling feast for the eyes when admiring inclusions.
Light is nowadays only rarely the photosphere which, bordered by darkness, verifies itself with even more intensive radiation. Everything around us is so illuminated—with the touch of a switch all becomes shadowlessly bright—that for sheer brightness we are no longer susceptible to light. Not so the illumination of inclusions in gemstones. Here a light goes on, and one experiences ethereal hours of sublime perception, amazement and interminable fascination.
Herein lie the glorious colors of contrasts, the rich light of internal reflections, the deeply impressive designs of patterns—massed apparitions of beauty—arrayed enlarged before us beneath the microscope, and one feels transported to another world of light. Whatsover quickens the human heart; the colors of flowers, the glistening plumage of the Hummingbird, the shimmering velvet of the butterfly’s wing, the sparkle of the morning dew, the radiating expressions of a beloved eye—all find their equivalence in gemstone inclusions; for these lend their unvarying, stately character to their costly encasement. Certainly they are flowers without scent, waters without eddies, gardens without movement or change, butterflies without life—shimmering treasures of an established, petrified, mystical world. And yet not an inhuman world; for it must be considered that human beings are necessary to treasure and admire.
The artistic arrangements within gemstones are, thanks to their well-balanced elegance, not only indestructible fountains of amazement and delight, but, in their multiplicity, witnesses to the creative versatility of nature. Her innovations are inexhaustible and fantastic. Finding a satisfactory solution to a certain problem, she rest not with self-satisfaction, simply spreading her invention worldwide. Instead she seems intent on demonstrating that this same problem can be solved just as excellently in many other ways with charm and artistic perfection. The outer shells, which nature has developed to protect her various creations, are astonishingly well-suited to the external conditions. Supple fish have their scales, birds their feathers, soft creatures their shells, wild animals their pelts, and inclusions—the eloquent witnesses of terrestrial history—their inert, imperishable showcase—the costly gemstone.
We gemologists have often been accused of spiriting away the nimbus of gemstones with our instruments. This criticism is unjustified, for we have opened up a magic world to the professional and layman which they could never have entered without gemological microscopy.
Edward Gubelin / John Koivula writes:
The world of human conception is predominantly one of vision, and thus a world of light, color and form—all three phenomenological expressions of inclusions in gemstones. Their liveliness, their transitory play of light, meets not merely with the commonsense of beauty; they are even a functional necessity to human beings. Color is the most beautiful manifestation of light; the ornamentation of one of the most perceptible displays of the material world, through both one experiences a beguiling feast for the eyes when admiring inclusions.
Light is nowadays only rarely the photosphere which, bordered by darkness, verifies itself with even more intensive radiation. Everything around us is so illuminated—with the touch of a switch all becomes shadowlessly bright—that for sheer brightness we are no longer susceptible to light. Not so the illumination of inclusions in gemstones. Here a light goes on, and one experiences ethereal hours of sublime perception, amazement and interminable fascination.
Herein lie the glorious colors of contrasts, the rich light of internal reflections, the deeply impressive designs of patterns—massed apparitions of beauty—arrayed enlarged before us beneath the microscope, and one feels transported to another world of light. Whatsover quickens the human heart; the colors of flowers, the glistening plumage of the Hummingbird, the shimmering velvet of the butterfly’s wing, the sparkle of the morning dew, the radiating expressions of a beloved eye—all find their equivalence in gemstone inclusions; for these lend their unvarying, stately character to their costly encasement. Certainly they are flowers without scent, waters without eddies, gardens without movement or change, butterflies without life—shimmering treasures of an established, petrified, mystical world. And yet not an inhuman world; for it must be considered that human beings are necessary to treasure and admire.
The artistic arrangements within gemstones are, thanks to their well-balanced elegance, not only indestructible fountains of amazement and delight, but, in their multiplicity, witnesses to the creative versatility of nature. Her innovations are inexhaustible and fantastic. Finding a satisfactory solution to a certain problem, she rest not with self-satisfaction, simply spreading her invention worldwide. Instead she seems intent on demonstrating that this same problem can be solved just as excellently in many other ways with charm and artistic perfection. The outer shells, which nature has developed to protect her various creations, are astonishingly well-suited to the external conditions. Supple fish have their scales, birds their feathers, soft creatures their shells, wild animals their pelts, and inclusions—the eloquent witnesses of terrestrial history—their inert, imperishable showcase—the costly gemstone.
We gemologists have often been accused of spiriting away the nimbus of gemstones with our instruments. This criticism is unjustified, for we have opened up a magic world to the professional and layman which they could never have entered without gemological microscopy.
EXCLUSIVE: From Today Luxury Brand Retailer Montblanc Commits To Disclose Color Enhancement Treatments Of Its Black Diamonds
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the disclosure practices of luxury brands such as Montblanc + FTC guides for the jewelry, precious metals, and pewter industries + Diamond Best Practice Principles + the Richemont Connection + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=26465
Jewellery Exports To US Lose GSP Crutch
Times News Network writes:
Despite strong lobbying by the Indian industry for extension of duty-free access to Indian gold jewellery in the US market, the US government withdrew the generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefit for the product on Thursday.
Other products for which import duty concession was withdrawn as part of the annual review of the GSP scheme include brass lamps from India, gold jewellery from Thailand and auto-parts from Brazil. The GSP scheme provides preferential duty-free entry into the US market to select products from developing countries.
Though widely anticipated, the withdrawal of the benefits has come as a double whammy for jewellery and brass lamp exporters from India who are battling an appreciating rupee that is leading to lower realisation. Jewellery exporters will now have to pay an import duty of 6.7% which will push up prices and lower the competitiveness of the industry in the US market.
US trade representative Susan Schwab had warned the Indian industry during her India visit in April this year that they should not expect an extension of the GSP benefit for gold jewellery when the scheme lapsed in June. She pointed out that as jewellery exports from India in 2006 had crossed $2 billion, it did not qualify for the benefit any more under the revamped qualification criteria of 2006.
The new rules allow the administration to revoke waivers when imports of a product from one country exceeds an annual cap of about $ 1.87 billion or comprises 75% of total US imports of that product. The GSP scheme was introduced by the US government in January 1976 for more than 4,650 products from about 140 countries including India. In 1992, the US had suspended GSP benefits for a large number of products exported by India apparently to express its unhappiness over the intellectual property rights regime in India. In August 2001, GSP benefits on 42 products from India were restored.
The US has also withdrawn GSP benefits on wiring harnesses from the Philippines, and methanol from Venezuela. The India lobby in the US Parliament had tried hard to get the GSP benefit extended for Indian jewellery exporters. In a letter to US trade representative Susan Schwab, two senior parliamentarians had argued that revoking the benefit scheme for gems & jewellery from India and Thailand was not justified as it would only help China in grabbing a larger share of the market.
More info @ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Jewellery_exports_to_US_lose_GSP_crutch/articleshow/2162769.cms
Despite strong lobbying by the Indian industry for extension of duty-free access to Indian gold jewellery in the US market, the US government withdrew the generalised system of preferences (GSP) benefit for the product on Thursday.
Other products for which import duty concession was withdrawn as part of the annual review of the GSP scheme include brass lamps from India, gold jewellery from Thailand and auto-parts from Brazil. The GSP scheme provides preferential duty-free entry into the US market to select products from developing countries.
Though widely anticipated, the withdrawal of the benefits has come as a double whammy for jewellery and brass lamp exporters from India who are battling an appreciating rupee that is leading to lower realisation. Jewellery exporters will now have to pay an import duty of 6.7% which will push up prices and lower the competitiveness of the industry in the US market.
US trade representative Susan Schwab had warned the Indian industry during her India visit in April this year that they should not expect an extension of the GSP benefit for gold jewellery when the scheme lapsed in June. She pointed out that as jewellery exports from India in 2006 had crossed $2 billion, it did not qualify for the benefit any more under the revamped qualification criteria of 2006.
The new rules allow the administration to revoke waivers when imports of a product from one country exceeds an annual cap of about $ 1.87 billion or comprises 75% of total US imports of that product. The GSP scheme was introduced by the US government in January 1976 for more than 4,650 products from about 140 countries including India. In 1992, the US had suspended GSP benefits for a large number of products exported by India apparently to express its unhappiness over the intellectual property rights regime in India. In August 2001, GSP benefits on 42 products from India were restored.
The US has also withdrawn GSP benefits on wiring harnesses from the Philippines, and methanol from Venezuela. The India lobby in the US Parliament had tried hard to get the GSP benefit extended for Indian jewellery exporters. In a letter to US trade representative Susan Schwab, two senior parliamentarians had argued that revoking the benefit scheme for gems & jewellery from India and Thailand was not justified as it would only help China in grabbing a larger share of the market.
More info @ http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Jewellery_exports_to_US_lose_GSP_crutch/articleshow/2162769.cms
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