India Can Benefit From Sino-US Trade War, Says Chinese Mouthpiece

The Global Times argued that India was well-poised to use the trade war to reduce its trade deficit with China.

With China upping the ante in the trade war with US and announcing plans to put tariffs of up to 25 percent on $60 billion of US goods, certain Indian products may become more competitive in the Chinese market, Hu Weijia opined, while writing for Global Times.

A reporter with the state media paper and an official mouthpiece of the party, Weijia wrote that amid escalating Sino-US trade friction, US farm products have borne the brunt of retaliatory tariffs imposed by China which can allow India to focus on numerous farm products to expand its agricultural exports to the Chinese market.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“India’s efforts to expand its farm exports to China are welcome. Closer cooperation in the sector will increase trade and reduce India’s trade deficit with China. India is likely to be a major beneficiary of the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. The Indian government is wooing global manufacturers to set up shop in India. With the additional tariffs imposed by China and the US on imports from one another, India has become a more attractive destination for global manufacturers because made-in-India products now can help manufacturers evade the new US and Chinese duties.”

Citing an Economic Times report, Weijia further wrote that a study by the commerce department in India has analysed and identified at least 100 products where India can replace US exports to China.

An Opportunity for India

A similar report was published by the Economic Times on Tuesday, 28 August, citing a study by the commerce department.

According to the study, India can grab a bigger share of the Chinese market for cotton, corn, almonds, wheat and sorghum, ET reported.

A few lines where the US’ exports to China are above $10 million include fresh grapes, cotton linters, flue-cured tobacco, lubricants and certain chemicals, which, India too, exports to China.

According to ET, China has imposed tariffs of 15-25% on these goods coming from the US while other countries are subject to only 5-10% duty (most favoured nation or MFN rate). Moreover, India has an additional 6-35% duty concessions on the MFN under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement, making its exports more competitive.

Ramping up the US-China trade war, the Trump administration announced 10 percent tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to warn of "counter measures" to safeguard its interests.

The Trump administration's move comes after the US imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods worth $34 billion. Beijing immediately responded with its own tariffs on US goods worth $34 billion. The retaliatory tariffs that China enacted targeted US cars and major agricultural goods, such as soybeans and meat.

The US wants China to stop practices that allegedly encourage transfer of intellectual property to Chinese companies, such as requirements that foreign firms share ownership with local partners to access the Chinese market.

(With inputs from Global Times, Economic Times and PTI)