'Consumers will suffer if lift import duty is raised'

The local consumers will be affected if the government implements the proposed 10 percentage points hike in import duty on lift and escalators as imports meet 90 per cent of the country's annual demand for such devices, businesses said today.

The proposed hike from the existing 15.75 per cent to 25.75 per cent will ultimately increase their prices at the consumer level by nearly 20 per cent, said Emdadur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Elevator Escalators and Lift Importers Association (BEELIA).

Bangladesh annually needs Tk 4,000 crore worth of lifts and escalators, of which over Tk 3,600 crore worth of the devices are imported every year, he said.

So, imposing additional duty on the sector now will only increase the burden on the local buyers, Rahman said, adding that the government rather should lower the duty to the earlier level of 11 per cent for the sake of the sector.

He made the demands on behalf of BEELIA at a press briefing at Buet Graduates Club at Banani in Dhaka.

The lift industry incurred losses in the post-Covid era because of the global economic turmoil, persisting inflation and devaluation of currencies in various countries, Rahman said.

The high price of dollar and the proposed duty will drive the industry into a corner, he said.

"Raising import duty to protect the domestic lift manufacturing industry is a good initiative. But it should be kept it mind that imposing additional burden on import-oriented industries will destabilise the whole market where the consumers will be the victims."