Indian prime minister narendra modi's comments in a TV interview last week that attitudes toward Chinese goods are for the public to decide further spurred calls by Indian businessmen to boycott Chinese products, Hong Kong media said.But experts say any boycott is unlikely to work and will hurt India more than China.
"We should leave it to the public to decide what they think of Chinese goods," modi said last week on "network 18," Hong Kong's south China morning post reported on its website on April 16.That played into the hands of India's national federation of traders (CAIT).CAIT is understood to be encouraging merchants, importers and consumers to avoid using Chinese goods.The group claims that chinese-made goods are hurting India's small-scale industries.
Despite warnings from most analysts that any boycott would be unlikely to work and would hurt India more than China, CAIT made a desperate attempt to seize on Mr Modi's comments during the election to galvanise popular support for his call.
CAIT has even encouraged the nationalist modi government to impose tough tariffs of 300 to 500 per cent on Chinese goods, while demanding heavy penalties for any alleged violations.
Given that China is India's largest trading partner, calls for boycotts of Chinese goods are likely to cause Mr. Modi more trouble, the report said.Chinese investment in Indian start-ups rose to $5.6bn last year from $3bn in 2017, outstripping investments in the us and Japan.Four-fifths of India's top smartphones are made by Chinese companies, and India imports more than $10 billion worth of telecoms equipment from China each year.In 2018, India imported about $76 billion worth of goods from China -- mainly electronics and clothing -- while exporting $18.8 billion worth of goods, mainly raw materials.
China accounts for just 2 per cent of its global exports to India and any official boycott by the Indian government is unlikely to affect Beijing, the report said.New Delhi knows this too.Foreign trade experts largely agree that if the CAIT call continues, it will hurt India more than China.
"India should focus on strengthening software and knowledge services rather than trying to do what China has done best," said sanjit vil goja, head of an Indian research institute.In addition, we do not believe that the boycott will have any impact on the market.
Besides supporting nationalism, Indian businesses and consumers have no real incentive to boycott Chinese products, the report said.For consumers, Chinese products are cheap and ubiquitous.