Easy ways to boycott China and Chinese products. Must read

Communist party of China playing big to instigate its effect on the world which is not at all a good sign in any aspects. Starting from dumping, IP theft to currency manipulation, there is nothing left in which China has not put its leg on. To get rid of these dirty tactics of China, it is very much important for the democratic countries to step forward to cut the Chinese approach of dumping. Now here a question arises why not any countries acting against China. Let me tell you the war has begun. According to a Business Insider, discussions are being held on how to reduce the dependency on China.

USA-China Trade War

USA President Donald Trump announced trade war with China in 2018. And in this move all other democratic parties and oppositions too stepped in to support the movement. Trump raised the import duty on products from China due to which the products prices were raised and eventually the same happened in China also for products imported from USA. Both the countries got affected. According to a report from Bank of Finland in 2019, USA faced a loss of 0.9% whereas China faced a loss of 1%. But the main intent was not to slow down the GDP but to teach a lesson to China to stop conning the world and some pressure built up on China. With the effect of this trade war, finally in January 2020, China promised to stop currency manipulation, give protection for intellectual properties, trademarks, and patents. And China will not force any foreign companies to transfer the technology. With this USA and China mutually agreed that they will reduce the imports tariffs on the products from both the end. A second effect of this move also entertained USA companies in China to shift their operations or plants to any other countries. And many USA companies did so which reduces the dependency on China. The countries which got benefited are Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, and Netherlands. This is perfect example to boycott China.

India-China Trade

The trade between India and China is very imbalanced. In 2018-2019 India imported $70 bn from China and exported $16.7 bn to China. This is called trade deficit and is almost near to $53 bn and has been increasing with years which is a benefit for China. The main products being imported from China are TV, mobiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals. We must think big on how to replace these products. And this is not going to happen overnight but step by step. First at the individual level and then to a broader level.

How to Boycott China?

Step by step is a quite procedural way to go ahead. As Sonam Wankchuk explained in his video on how to proceed. But at the same time out government must be supportive. Should not be like amidst “boycott China” slogan, government of India creates official Tik Tok account. It is also required to pressurize the government to not do such blunder. According to me we can start the boycott China movement in 4 steps.

1.       Boycott Chinese Companies – Stop using Chinese products. Look out for alternatives of those products or services.

2.       Boycott Made in China – Stop using products made in China, instead look out for alternatives from Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea

3.       Boycott Chinese parts – Stop using products where Chinese parts are attached. Look out for products without any Chinese involvement.

4.       Boycott Chinese Investment Companies – Stop relying on companies where Chinese investments are there. There are alternatives which could be relied on.

A major focus on the first point itself will have a great impact on China. If at all any products made in China is boycotted, the companies will shift the operations to other countries to retain the demand.

At some points there are chaos to boycott Chinese food which I think is a baseless argument. Any Chinese restaurants in India is owned by an Indian and the employees too are Indian. We do not see any money flowing to China. So, this is not a good thought at all. If at all we do so, then we are disturbing the Indian food market.

At Company Level

Everything is a game of demand and supply. When the demand from end user will go down, that will have an impact on the companies to boycott the same.

At Government Level

To give a hype to boycott China, Indian government must adopt free trade to alternative countries of China. As written above Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Netherlands should be considered in this list. There are talks going on between India-European Union free trade union and the negotiation is stuck from past 8 years. Taking the advantage of India’s laziness, other countries like Vietnam is winning the game. The free trade agreement between Vietnam-EU is one such example. Second, with the USA-China trade war, when USA companies shifted the operations out of China, India should have taken the ball into its court but that did not happen and countries like Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand won the race. This is the utter failure of Indian government. Lots of complications, laws, corruption could be the major reasons for loosing. Rather the Indian government should focus on competing well to attract foreign investments.

My View – The Indian government must think big to attract foreign companies and focus on supporting Indians to manufacture goods in India. Country’s economy will boost if and only if goods will flow out and cash will flow in. Many manufacturing units should be encouraged to set up their plants in India and the export duty should be lessened.