India should engage with key trading partners if global trade war escalates: Assocham

India should engage with key trading partners if global trade war escalates: Assocham 

India should engage bilaterally with its key trading partners to promote exports if the world witnesses an escalation of trade war, industry chamber Assocham today said. 

It said that higher level of imports than exports will not provide the country much space to retaliate at the time of increasing trade war as most of the Indian imports are unavoidable. 

"So, the best course would be to keep engaged with the major trading partners, without aligning ourselves too much into a single bloc. Wherever, our exports are affected, we must engage bilaterally and use the channel of the World Trade Organisation in a rule based manner," the chamber said in a statement. 

India, it said, may end up the current fiscal with a hefty import bill of USD 450 billion against exports of about USD 300 billion. Almost one-fourth of the imports will be only on account of crude and other related items, besides imports of essential commodities such as plastics and fertiliser for which the country does not have an immediate domestic capacity, it added. 

Further, it said that India should be watchful about a sudden jump in steel imports as the US has imposed heavy duties on steel. "We cannot flex too much of our importing muscle, even if our exports face consequences of trade war and are subjected to tariff barriers," it said. 

The Business Standard, New Delhi, 19th March 2018