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Indian can’t boycott Chinese products completely as we are heavily dependent on Chinese products, whether we know it or not. Forget about smartphones, three-fourths of goods come from China, there are innumerable goods of daily use that are made by Indian companies, but depend heavily on Chinese inputs.
For instance, When you buy an India-made LED bulb, what you probably don’t know is that 30-40 percent of its components are imported from China. Around 88 percent of the components used by the mobile smartphone industry are imported from countries like China. Most drugs that we buy are turned into pills in India, but at least two-thirds of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in it is imported from China.
When it comes to smartphones, computers, television, microphones, speakers, cameras almost all the major components for manufacturing are sourced from China, and are only assembled in India.
Made in China products are in every household. We are also dependent on China for raw materials. Traders and manufacturers are largely dependent on imports. Although they are many products Indians are dependent on China, some top imports from China are electronics, capital goods, pharmaceuticals and metal components.
The basic reason for the popularity of Chinese products in India is the low price of products. There are three basic reasons behind the low price of Chinese products -:
1. The cost of production in China is low due to the availability of cheap labour force.
2.The manufacturing sector in China gets a subsidy from the government which reduces the cost of production of the goods.
3. Chinese manufacturers produce a huge quantity of the goods which reduces the cost of per unit.
Suppose if an Indian company manufactures a product with the same quality without depending on any components or raw materials from China then the price of the product will be doubled or even tripled. So due to the higher cost of production Indian products cannot compete with Chinese products in India and at the international level. Thus, when it comes to buying, consumers always look for cheaper and quality choice.
We import 16 per cent from them and export only 4 per cent to them while China’s per capita is almost five times more than us.
In conclusion, unlike US, we’re not an economic powerhouse and neither do we have the dollar in our arsenal to hurt China economically. So, boycott of Chinese products would land a heavier blow to India.
Kewepelo Mero
Lower Naharbari Village, Dimapur