With the US threatening China with a 130% tariff, India is becoming more cautious as there is a significant possibility of Chinese dumping in India.
Sources from the Ministry of Commerce confirmed that keeping the current situation in mind, India is tightening the checks and balances to safeguard several sectors from dumping from China. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) cautioned that sectors like electronics and consumer durables, textiles and apparel, toys and plastic goods, solar equipment and components are more vulnerable to any surge in supply of cheaper goods from China.
“Such a steep tariff would reduce China’s access to one of its largest export markets, prompting Chinese manufacturers to seek alternative destinations to offload surplus inventory. Given India’s large consumer base and proximity, it becomes a likely and attractive target for such redirected exports,” said SC Ralhan, president, FIEO.
Sources have confirmed that the department of commerce is monitoring the situation closely and if they receive any complaints of dumping from the industries, remedial measures will be taken. While the government has taken precautionary anti-dumping measures for items like steel, tires, experts warn that India needs to remain more cautious so that there is no dumping through third countries.
“There are anti-dumping measures against China for tires. However, there are many other nations such as Thailand and Vietnam which exports tyres and have FTAs with India. Given they have certain advantages, dumping from them is a negative for domestic players,” Kumar Subbiah, CFO, CEAT. Tyre industry sources cited that there have been instances of China using ‘third countries’ to dump tyres in India.
US President Donald Trump threatened to slap an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, over and above the existing 30% duties, effective from November 1 or earlier. The decision comes in response to China tightening export curbs on critical rare earth minerals essential for electronics manufacturing.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has been proactive in the past few years in terms of implementing anti-dumping measures on various Chinese products. However, officials from the Ministry confirmed that India is keeping a check and taking measures to further ensure that Indian sectors remain safeguarded from Chinese dumping.
“Dumping is an ongoing trade challenge that we face in the world that we live in. There is pressure on this recalibration of supply chains due to various tariff measures by partner countries amongst each other,” said Rajesh Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Commerce. In September, DGTR identified 12 products like glass fiber, solar cells from China, where the government will likely come up with anti-dumping measures.
