Cheap, Substandard Chinese Imports Led To Job Losses, Shut Down MSMEs In India: Parliamentary Panel Report

A parliamentary panel has asked the Union government to take swift measures to stop the dumping of cheap and substandard Chinese goods that have caused huge job losses and led to closure of many Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

A report in The Times of India says that the parliamentary standing committee on commerce regretted that India had become a dumping ground for Chinese goods ranging from toys and textiles to bulk drugs and bicycles and recommended that the government should immediately implement anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, besides imposing strict quality-control and other restrictions, to save Indian jobs and enterprises.

The panel recommended that the government should take aggressive measures, like those taken by the United States and the European Union, to stop the flow of Chinese goods into Indian markets. A report by the panel tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (26 July) pointed out that import of cheap Chinese solar panels had led to nearly two lakh job losses. Laxity in law enforcement is leading to under-invoiced Chinese bicycles flooding the Indian market. "The impact of Chinese imports has been such that India is is threatened to become a country of importers and traders with domestic factories either cutting down their production or shutting down completely," the report warned.

Though Indo-China bilateral trade increased to US $84.44 billion last year, India’s trade deficit of US $51.75 billion is only widening. The government has been asking China to open its markets for more Indian goods and services, notably rice, meat, pharmaceutical products and IT services. But Beijing has been reluctant to do so, leading to New Delhi stepping back from signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement between ten ASEAN member states and six Asia-Pacific countries (India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) out of fear that it could lead to more further increase in Chinese imports.