India has imposed anti-dumping measures against 90 products imported from China, while investigations are on against another 24 products for alleged dumping, Parliament was informed on Friday. Anti-dumping measures are taken to protect the domestic industry against unfair trade practices followed by exporters. The 90 Chinese products include two pharmaceutical products, minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. China is India’s largest trade partner followed by the US and UAE.
Anti-dumping investigations are conducted by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies under the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Probe will be conducted on the basis of applications filed by the domestic industry alleging damage due to dumping and other unfair practices.
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India’s trade with China fell from $89.71 billion in 2017-18 to $87.07 billion in 2018-19, mainly due to a decline in imports from $76.38 billion to $70.32 billion. Indian exports grew from $13.33 billion to $16.75 billion during the period, Goyal told the Rajya Sabha while answering another question.
The country’s trade deficit with China declined from $63.05 billion to $53.57 billion. The government is verifying the reports that some Chinese goods are routed through third countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. The Narendra Modi government has been striving to reduce the trade deficit with China by engaging with the Chinese government to reduce trade barriers for Indian exports.
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The governments of India and China have signed several agreements to boost exports of Indian rice, rapeseed meal, tobacco, fishmeal, fish oil, and chilli meal from India. The National Medical Products Administration of China held a joint workshop with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation of India to train Indian pharma exporters on the regulatory practices of China.
The Narendra Modi government has taken a series of steps to support exporters by organising buyer-seller meets between Chinese importers and Indian exporters. Indian exporters are also encouraged to take part in Chinese trade fairs to exhibit their products.