Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has identified non-tariff barriers as the biggest hurdle in India’s trade relationship with China, warning that restricted access to the Chinese market continues to widen the trade imbalance between the two countries.
Speaking at a session with Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council on ‘India’s economic edge’, held alongside the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Sitharaman said India has consistently raised concerns over the difficulties faced by its exporters.
She also stressed that New Delhi prefers negotiations and dialogue over retaliatory trade measures to address such imbalances. Addressing the challenges in bilateral trade, the Finance Minister said, “So non-tariff barriers are the biggest hurdle in the trade between India and China. That is one, and second, if the approach globally that you see today, where imbalance is huge, countries impose tariffs and say, ‘no, we cannot sustain this imbalance, either you correct it or else we are going to be very punitive on you’, that approach we have never taken.”
Sitharaman said the trade relationship continues to be tilted against India, with the imbalance expanding despite years of discussions between the two countries. “The trade imbalance is something which we have been talking about with China now for several years. We are denied market access, even for those goods for which there are immense market opportunities in China,” she stated.
Her remarks underline India's continuing concerns over the limited opportunities available to domestic producers in one of the world's largest consumer markets. According to the Finance Minister, Indian exporters face obstacles even in sectors where the country has established a strong international presence.
The issue remains a significant point of friction in the complex relationship between the two Asian neighbors, affecting not only economic ties but also oader geopolitical dynamics in the region.
Source: Atlantic Council
🌐
