The import tariff on black chador (a full-body cloak worn by many Iranian women) has seen a 450% rise recently jumping from 10% to 32%, according to deputy head of the Association of Chador Manufacturers, Mehdi Javadi.
Experts predict chador prices to increase, as 95% of its Iranian market demand are met by imports, Seday-e Eghtesad reported.
Earlier Mohammad Mehdi Raeeszadeh, secretary of the Association of Iran Textile Industries, had said: “The import tariff rate for black chador is 10%, whereas it stands at 32% for other textiles. This has resulted in the imports of other textiles under the name of chador, which has dealt a serious blow to domestic production.
“Presumably the idea of increasing import tariffs has been floated by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade with the aim of shoring up domestic production. However, this strategy could come to fruition if there was any domestic production in the first place. Iran does not produce black chador after all,” he added.
According to the figures by the Industries Ministry, domestic production of chador is around 2 million square meters per annum, whereas 80 million square meters are imported every year.
Currently, Southeastern Asian countries such as South Korea, Japan and China are the main exporters of the textile to Iran. In fact, Iran is one of the many destinations for their product and more than 70% of chador in Islamic countries are supplied by these countries.
