Current context: India has decided to restrict import of 371 items from China, with effect from March 2020.
a. $83.6 billion
b. $33.6 billion
c. $53.6 billion
d. $63.6 billion
- India import around Rs 4 Trillion worth non-essential goods from China, as per the Commerce Ministry estimate.
- A total of 371 items will be restricted from March 2020 which includes toys, plastic goods, Sport items, furniture especially from China.
- Out of these 371 items, 25 come under the telecom department, 44 under the steel ministry, 61 under the industry department, 62 come under the ministry of electronics and information and technology, 68 pertain to the department of heavy industries and 111 comes under the department of chemicals and petrochemicals.
- This step was needed to shrink the trade deficit with China which is currently at $53.6 billion.
- This was also one of the main reason why India didn’t join RCEP as China denied to India’s last moment proposal seeking an auto- trigger mechanism on all imports from china to appropriately safeguard itself from sudden increment in imports.
- The Commerce Ministry is also planning to increase this number to 5000 by second phase as cheap imports are generally very toxic and are not suitable for domestic consumption.
Question:
Q.1 India’s trade deficit with China is currently at _________?a. $83.6 billion
b. $33.6 billion
c. $53.6 billion
d. $63.6 billion
