Reuters released news on the 24th that the customs of major Indian ports and airports seized goods from China, resulting in a large number of Chinese-made electronic components and other goods backlog in Indian ports. At the same time, the products of Apple, Ford, Cisco, Dell and the electronic components of Foxconn are affected. Reuters said that although the Indian government has not officially issued a notice, customs officials at the country’s major ports have requested additional customs clearance materials.
As soon as the news came out, it drew the attention of people from all walks of life at home and abroad. Due to the recent intensification of Sino-Indian frictions, this tension has extended to trade. Recently, India has also been rumored to have plans to set up higher trade barriers and increase the level of about 300 products including engineering products, electronic products and some medical equipment. Import tariffs. In this regard, an Indian official also said that the country’s proposed tariffs are not targeted at any country, but this is one of the ways to reduce the unbalanced trade deficit with China and other countries.
What is the actual situation?
Against this background, the suspension of customs clearance of cargo from China by Indian ports does not seem to be a surprise. But it is worth noting that many domestic media reports that "the Indian ports have suspended customs clearance of goods from China" may be too general. The reporters of "International Business Intelligence" found that the report of "the suspension of customs clearance of goods from China by Indian ports" mainly came from an internal notice issued to its members by the Association of Customs Declaration Agents (CCBA) in Chennai, India on June 23.
The information disclosed in the notice mainly includes the following points: First, the Indian Customs has issued internal notices to all ports, airports, CFSs (container freight stations), etc., and across the country, temporarily detained containers from China before release. Need to pass CFSs and port review. Second, the Indian customs are currently waiting for a formal trade announcement, and CCBA is contacting customs officials for further instructions. Third, today (June 23) the port/CFSs/airport may have some delays in customs clearance for Chinese containers.
According to the notice, the Indian Customs has not stopped customs clearance of containers from China, but has slowed down customs clearance. Indian airports, ports, and container freight stations are waiting for the customs' next instructions. Since CCBA only represents the Chennai port, it is an unofficial organization, and the Indian officials have not yet issued relevant official notices. Therefore, some in the industry believe that the CCBA notice is not authoritative and cannot represent all ports in India.Some netizens said on social software that he learned through Indian agency channels that India has not suspended Chinese imports and there is no 100% inspection; some netizens said that Indian customs only increased inspection efforts.
Although there is no official document, but still need to be vigilant.
China is currently India’s largest trading partner. According to statistics, in 2019, India’s imports from mainland China reached 70 billion US dollars, including household appliances, furniture, communications products, industrial products, toys, plastic products, kitchen utensils, steel products, etc. The import ratio of goods and products exceeds 13%.Since the conflict between India and China has intensified, Indian folks have launched a number of campaigns against “Made in China”, including the “Indian goods-our pride” (Indian goods-our Pride) campaign, the goal is to reduce the import of Chinese products by $13 billion by December 2021.
This information indicates that the current severe situation of Sino-Indian relations requires that companies with Indian operations be aware of customs policy trends at all times and be prepared in advance.
