Frutas de Chile and the Federation of Chilean Industry (Sofofa) met with India’s ambassador to Chile, Abhilasha Joshi, last week to discuss ways to strengthen commercial ties between the two countries.
India is becoming an increasingly important market for Chilean fruit. But it is subject to high tariffs, which Chile is seeking to reduce. Apples, for example, are subject to a 50 per cent tariffs, while other products like nuts and wine face a tariff of more than 100 per cent.
“Improving this aspect would not only mean improvements for our exports, but, above all, would allow Indian consumers to have greater access to imported products, as prices would go down,” said Frutas de Chile’s president, Iván Marambio, adding that the meeting had been “very positive”.
Diego Torres, Sofofa’s international director, noted that “moving forward on a comprehensive agreement will bring important competitive advantages for both countries, especially in key sectors such as food, mining, chemicals, forestry and agroindustry, consolidating our sectors as strategic partners”.
According to data from the National Customs Service, Chile exported US$23mn of apples in the first seven months of 2024, an increase of 68.7 per cent on the year-earlier period. Kiwifruit shipments reached US$18mn, 5.3 per cent up on the same period of 2023.
Overall, food is the fastest growing export segment, with shipments to India increasing by around 1,000 per cent since 2013.
