How India is slowly, but surely, boycotting China

Amid calls for a boycott of Chinese goods after a border clash in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, India's government has instructed sellers to declare the country of origin for goods and services purchased via a state-run online portal.

But the question arises -- can India really boycott all things China?

There are a number of challenges and options India face with respect to this.

1) China is india's second largest trading partner. But China benefits more.

In the last financial year, India exported goods worth $16 billion to China, and imported goods worth $65 billion.

This 65 vs 16 is called the trade deficit, and that's a big problem.

India's import bill is four times bigger than its export to China.

To this end, India can effectively hit back at China, and save as much as $8 billion in this year alone.

As a first step, India is targetting cheap imports from China -- basic products, ranging from furniture to toys.

Some are non-essential, and can very well be made in India.

In a nutshell, the gameplan is Make in India! And 12 priority sectors have been identified for this.

Domestic production can immediately reduce India's dependence on China.

India levies anti-dumping duties on 90 Chinese products. So the plan is to slap this on at least 300 more products.

There are at least 40 sectors in the Indian industry that can make these products -- with a much better quality.

The government must help them to step up and stop cheap Chinese imports.

These moves are unprecedented.

This is India's biggest clean-up of imports from one country.

In the past, India did not want to be called protectionist. It wanted to be seen as liberal. So, even with China, India always took a case-by-case approach.

For example, India restricted import of cheap Chinese tyres after Indian makers complained; raised the import duty on Chinese incense sticks; and entirely prohibited the import of milk and milk products.

All of this happened only after industry bodies lobbied hard. But after this border conflict, the government is taking the initiative.

It is shooting emails to industry bodies. The government is also leading by example in boycotting chinese products.

It has asked state-run telecom companies to avoid Chinese products, and now wants to keep Chinese products out of the state-run e-commerce platform.

This is no small platform. India foresees transactions upwards of Rs 55,000 crore

It is also suspected that China may find a way to dump its products in India -- indirectly. So New Delhi is reviewing its trade pacts with other countries, because China is dumping goods in india via common trade partners.

Increased tariffs, no government procurement and restricted presence on e-commerce platforms in india, and reviewing trade deals -- India is slowly, but surely, boycotting China.