New Delhi, April 5
India has stepped up vigil to prevent the dumping of cheap Chinese imports in the country after the steep US tariff hike on the goods exported by the Communist country.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is reported to have held a number of meetings to take stock of the situation. Government officials are also in touch with industry to get a wider view of the ground reality and formulate a strategy to protect the Indian economy.
The Commerce Ministry has already been keeping a close watch on goods such as steel from China which was hurting industry after the earlier round of tariff hike by the US. Now the vigil has been widened to other goods as well, a senior official confirmed.
While the US has hiked tariffs for all countries, China is the worst hit as the additional tariff of 34 per cent announced by President Donald Trump has ramped up the total duty to 54 per cent.
China has retaliated against the US tariff hike by increasing duties on all American goods by 34 per cent and placing export curbs on essential rare earth metals required for the vital electronics and defence industries.
China has also imposed restrictions on several US companies, especially those in defence-related industries, in a tit-for-tat move.
India’s exports to the US constitute only 4 per cent of its GDP, so the direct impact of the 27 per cent hike in tariffs on Indian goods announced by President Trump will have only a "limited" impact, according to an SBI Research report..