'Indian imports from China fell in April-July': Goyal to RS amid LAC standoff, coronavirus

Imports of electronic components, telecom instruments, and computer hardware from China saw sharp falls in April-July 2020 compared to the same period last year and so did the value of total imports, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

In a written response to Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma's queries on the 'assessment of disruption of imports from China', Goyal informed that India’s imports from China during April-July 2020 decreased to USD 16.60 billion from USD 23.45 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. He noted that due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, there were several global and domestic supply-side constraints and also a dip in global demand.

He listed the details of the imports of the top 50 commodities from China in April-July 2020 compared to April-July 2019, and highlighted some of the items exhibiting a decline in imports include electronic components, telecom instruments, computer hardware, industrial machinery for dairy, electric machinery, residual chemical and allied products, consumer electronics, electronic instruments, fertilisers, products of iron and steel, etc.

Piyush Goyal said that in order to minimise the impact of such disruptions, the government has taken steps to expand domestic capacities and has implemented policies to promote domestic manufacturing through the ease of doing business and Production Linked Incentives (PLIs) in select sectors including mobile phones and electronic components and medical devices and bulk drugs.

"The full impact of these measures on the industry will be discernible as the global economy recovers, and revives from the recessionary affects of the pandemic," he further said.

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Promoting desi apps under govt scheme

Though the Commerce Minister didn't directly respond to the question regarding the fall out of banning of Chinese apps and trade sanctions following the deadly Galwan clashes in June, Goyal did say that the government has launched 'Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge' to give a push to Indian app ecosystem through shortlisting of the top domestic apps that have the potential to become global competitors in their respective categories.

The Centre has banned over 200 Chinese apps, including the popular video-sharing platform TikTok and the multiplayer combat game PUBG, since tensions with China escalated after violent clashes in a border post in eastern Ladakh that martyred 20 soldiers. Repeated rounds of military and diplomatic negotiations has failed to ease the strain.

India has thus launched a concerted effort to reduce the trade deficit with its northern neighbour and has rolled out policies to restrict Chinese investments in key sectors like telecom. New Delhi is also looking to expand trade ties with other Asian economic giants like Japan, ASEAN, and Australia and has inked deals to revamp the supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region to tilt it away from Beijing.

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