Trade diplomacy: Govt depts red-flag high duties to curb China imports, seek nuance in strategy

MULTIPLE WINGS IN the government have started to red-flag the Centre's moves to progressively hike customs duties, especially the more recent offensive targeted at imports of Chinese components and inputs. A section within the government is in favour of a more nuanced approach in using tariffs as a diplomatic tool, failing which there is a possibility of the gains of India's manufacturing-focused thrust that include schemes such as Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) being squandered away. What cannot be missed is that China still accounts for 14 per cent of India's imports with not just inputs for the domestic industry in sectors…