A parliamentary panel has raised concern over Chinese imports that are killing its micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and jobs. The panel recommended the central government to quickly introduce quality standards and check Chinese imports across several sectors - from toys and textiles to bulk drugs and bicycles.
Highlighting the poor enforcement and porous border, both at sea and land the standing committee on commerce tabled a report in the parliament where it said that India has become an easy dumping ground for the low-cost Chinese products. It gave reference to the policies and measures taken by the US and the European Union where they adopted aggressive steps to keep a check on the Chinese imports which have to hamper their domestic industry. It recommended the government to be more proactive in protecting the local business by introducing measures such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions while imposing other restrictions.
Dumping of the Chinese solar panels in India has led to nearly 2 lakh losses, the panel estimated. Meanwhile in other sectors also the effect has been quite evident. A large quantity of under-invoiced bicycles is entering the Indian markets due to "lax enforcement" and weak checks points. The demand for these bicycles has witnessed a steep rise because of the public bike sharing plan introduced by the Smart City administrators. The Chinese bicycles are takin over the Indian markets due to low cost and high demand.
"The impact of Chinese imports has been such that India is threatened to become a country of importers and traders with domestic factories either cutting down their production or shutting down completely," the committee said.
According to commerce ministry data, India's trade deficit with China increased more than two-fold at 219% from $16 billion in 2007-08 to $51 billion in 2016-17. India's imports of $61 billion from China were six times its exports of $10 billion in 2016-17, making rising trade imbalance a major concern. India is negotiating a deal to get greater market access to China since last few years.
