India News | Rising US Costs May Prompt China to Divert Goods to India; Govt Sets Up Monitoring Cell
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The government has set up an inter-ministerial import surge monitoring group as high tariffs on certain countries like China and Vietnam may lead to diversion of goods to India, the commerce ministry said.
New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) The government has set up an inter-ministerial import surge monitoring group as high tariffs on certain countries like China and Vietnam may lead to diversion of goods to India, the commerce ministry said.
It also said that Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US goods could further increase the inflow of US agricultural products into India.
"With the global uncertainties related to tariffs, obviously there are elevated apprehensions related to likely flooding or surge in imports or surge...to look at that...import surge monitoring group has been set up," Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce L Satya Srinivas told reporters here.
If any unusual surge is reported, the commerce ministry can take action such as imposing anti-dumping or safeguard duties.
The group, he said, is monitoring weekly as well as monthly trends by commodities and by countries.
"If there is any unusual surge, we would like to understand the reasons," he added.
Representatives from the department, DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade), CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs), and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) are in the group. Officials from other ministries are also being consulted when required.
According to the ministry, a recent assessment highlighted the risk of merchandise dumping into India due to reciprocal tariffs amid global trade tensions.
"Rising US costs may prompt exporters from countries like China, Vietnam and Indonesia, all facing US trade deficits to divert goods to India, potentially triggering import surges," it said.
The US has imposed whopping 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods. In retaliation, China has imposed 125 per cent in American goods, triggering a trade war.
DGFT Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that a help desk has been operationalised since April 11 for both exporters and importers to address their issues.
"In case of export opportunities or in case of import surge in India, we have requested our exporters and importers to give us an alert through this desk," he said.
He added that a note regarding the formulation of the export promotion mission is in process.
"We have done stakeholder and inter-ministerial consultations for that," Sarangi said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)