US tariffs: Govt tightens vigil on China imports amid dumping concerns

The Department of Commerce has been holding internal meetings, chaired by Commerce Secretary, to firm up a strategy in this connection

India has tightened surveillance of incoming shipments amid mounting concerns that Chinese goods could flood its market, following the US’ decision to slap reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners.

 

The Department of Commerce has been holding back-to-back internal meetings, chaired by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, to firm up a strategy in this connection. “The commerce department is alert,” said a person familiar with the matter. “It had been closely monitoring the import situation even before the US announced its reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday. The US has been levying additional tariffs on Chinese goods.”

 

On April 2 (Eastern Time), US President Donald Trump signed an executive order introducing new reciprocal tariffs, imposing additional ad valorem duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on imports from a host of countries. The baseline 10 per cent duty is due to take effect on Saturday, with additional country-specific duties coming into force from April 9.

 

While the White House has adjusted the reciprocal tariff on India to 26 per cent, down from the initially stated 27 per cent, China has been hit with a steeper tariff of 34 per cent. 

 

This comes on top of an existing 20 per cent tariff on Chinese imports into the US, pushing the total duty to 54 per cent. These new measures add to tariffs already imposed on select Chinese goods under the previous Joe Biden administration, which have been in effect since September last year. 

 

Experts say the rising tariffs are gradually shutting China out of the American market, leading to a potential supply glut. Concerns are now mounting that Beijing could redirect its exports elsewhere, raising the threat of dumping.

 

“China has already reduced its exposure to the US market. If you observe, Chinese imports into the country (India) have been gradually on a rise. The government needs to be more proactive now,” said Biswajit Dhar, distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development. He added that with US tariffs covering a wide range of products, the risks extend across all categories.

 

In the past, the commerce department maintained that India had a strong institutional mechanism to prevent dumping of goods from China, with the presence of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) system. This seeks to ensure that an effective anti-dumping system is in place.

 

According to the commerce department’s data, India imported goods worth $103.7 billion from China between April and February of the 2024–25 financial year — an increase of 10.4 per cent vis-à-vis the year-ago period. In contrast, exports to China fell by 15.7 per cent to $12.7 billion. Key imports from China include computer hardware, electrical and electronic components, telecom instruments, and raw plastic materials.

 

India is currently conducting anti-dumping investigations into several Chinese products, including chemicals, glass fibres, elevator guide rails, low ash met coke, and cranes.

 

According to a report by CareEdge Ratings, the imposition of high reciprocal tariffs by the US on other competing nations raises the possibility of increased dumping by those nations in India, as well as in other export markets. “China is the world’s lowest-cost manufacturer and exporter of the majority of chemicals. Due to the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US, China could even dump chemicals in India and other countries, which may have an indirect negative impact on India’s chemicals sector,” it noted.