Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Agriculture
Why in news?
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Centre has identified 21 agricultural products, including honey, potatoes, grapes, soya beans and groundnuts, in which Indian exports could benefit from trade restrictions against Chinese goods.
Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on India’s agricultural trade report prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
- There may be opportunities for Indian exporters of agri-items, in case some countries impose restrictions on Chinese goods in response to outbreak of COVID-19.
- Opportunities may arise in case of other countries imposing import restriction on these tariff lines.
- There are 21 agri-tariff lines where China’s global exports and India’s global exports are more than $25 million and where India is price and volume-wise competitive and capable to provide an alternative.
- With regard to Indian exports to China, two items — cotton linter and mango pulp — may get impacted, as they are used as raw material by China for further processing and then export.
- Apart from these two, most major items are used for domestic consumption in China and may not be too badly hit.
