A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to swiftly impose quality standards and check Chinese imports across several sectors, also noting that shipments from across the border have taken a toll on the domestic manufacturing sector and pushed several micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to shut shop. The standing committee on commerce said in a report, “India has been an easy dumping ground for Chinese goods on account of low price of Chinese goods, poor enforcement and porous border, both at sea and land.”
It said the US and the European Union have been “quite aggressive and agitated over the erosion of their domestic industry and loss of employment” and recommended that the government be more “proactive” in trade defence measures, such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy actions, while imposing other restrictions. The panel estimated that dumping of Chinese solar panels in India has resulted in nearly 2,00,000 job losses. And also pointed out that a large quantity of under-invoiced bicycles were entering the Indian market due to “lax enforcement”. While Chinese goods have traditionally faced the highest anti-dumping action, the committee believes that they are “relatively few in comparison to the kind of dumping” that has taken place.
“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 report said. Over the last few years, the government has also been worried about the widening trade deficit and is seeking that China open up its markets to more Indian goods to reduce the gap between imports and exports.
