India plans to increase exports to China
A trade plan India is reportedly working on that is intended to increase shipments of about 200 products to China would shore up a major weak spot in India's exports to China amid escalating China-US trade tensions, a Chinese trade expert said on Thursday.
Indian woman sorting through grains being sold at an open market in Jaipur, India. Photo: IC
The plan, envisioned to narrow India's trade deficit with China, pursues duty waivers on an array of products under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), according to a Bloomberg report.
APTA was signed in 1975, seeking to allow for a multilateral and liberal trade regime for its members that include China, India, Bangladesh, Laos, South Korea and Sri Lanka.
"India could certainly leverage the trade deal talks into an improved competitive advantage in its Chinese exports, and in the case of China, increasing shipments from India would to a certain extent replace consumer goods from the US amid its trade friction with the US," Bi Jing, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.
A longstanding trade deficit with China has been a concern for New Delhi, which couldn't compete with countries such as Australia that have free trade pacts with China.
China's trade with India totaled $84.41 billion in 2017, with exports from China standing at around $68 billion, far outnumbering $16 billion in imports from India.
There are signs on the Chinese side of closer trade ties between the two countries.
China has dropped a ban on rapeseed meal imports from India as the government seeks to diversify sources of protein used in animal feed.
Rapeseed meal shipments from India can resume from this past Monday if they meet certain inspection and quarantine requirements, said the General Administration of Customs.
China was the top buyer of Indian rapeseed meal before a ban was imposed in 2011 over quality concerns. As China-US trade tensions escalated, India stepped up its lobbying for the restart of the trade, which was worth $161 million in 2011.
Indian rapeseed meal exported to China must be from processing plants inspected and approved by the Export Inspection Council of India, and registered with China's General Administration of Customs, the Chinese body said on its website.
Still, as Bi put it, the trade plan is just one of many choices for China to diversify its imports, so it matters even more for India to get it done soon.