At WTO, India breathes fire over Dragon’s trade policies

New Delhi: India has questioned several moves by China at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), turning the heat on non-transparent subsidies that lead to an influx of low-priced, poor-quality goods into the country, harming its local industries.New Delhi flagged concerns over several trade issues during a review of Beijing’s trade policies. It highlighted China’s cross-border data regulations and laws, export control measures on critical raw materials, and non-tariff barriers that adversely impact pharma exports, besides export bans on critical minerals.India also queried the consistency of these practices with global trade norms. The concerns stem from India’s $85.07 billion trade deficit in FY24 with China. In the current fiscal year until August, the gap has already reached $40.8 billion.Non-tariff barriers have hit India’s exports of shrimp and bovine meat to China. “Market access to many products is restricted, which would otherwise help lower the trade deficit,” said an…