Following the path of the United States and the European Union to tackle the constant rise of Chinese imports, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce is rigorously looking to take aggressive and pro-active steps. The committee has also marked out the need for monitoring, surveillance and enforcement of the trade rectification.
The committee has further suggested that the ‘Make in India’ campaign must be merged with ‘Swadeshi Apnao’ concept, as it has been reportedly observed that the demand for domestic Indian textile products is declining because of the lower price bracket that Chinese textile items have to offer.
Notably, industries that require a huge amount of labour are the ones most affected by the rise in Chinese imports, textiles, pharmaceuticals, toys, bicycle are the few segments which have been affected the most by growing Chinese imports.
It is important to mention here that last week, the 28th GST council meeting was held, where the Centre cut down tax rates on 50 products belonging to different categories and in terms of textile, to provide a level field for the textile manufacturers, the members of the meeting agreed to introduce a uniform tax rate on the whole value chain.
Additionally, the committee has suggested that the Government must regularly conduct search-and-seizure at points of import and carry out the detailed analysis of customs data to unravel the way of working of the unfair importers and cut down on the entry of under-valued Chinese imports.
Markedly, the Ministry of Textiles (MoT) recently submitted a report in the Parliament, where it claimed a marginal growth of US $ 0.2 billion in the textile and apparel sector in FY 2017-18. The MoT also affirmed the country that the import of raw silk has come down significantly due to the regular push the industry is getting from the Government.
