The Morbi Chamber of Commerce has urged the Centre to restrict imports of small home appliances from China, which are being brought into the country at a low price.

The chamber has written a letter to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, highlighting the plight of the Indian MSME sector and appealing for considerable action under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.

“Consumer home appliances such as hand blender, mixer grinder, hand mixer, chopper, room heater, water filter, electric kettle, door bell, electric iron, electric fans (ceiling, pedestal, wall, table, ventilation), sandwich toaster etc are imported into India at a very low price. Low-price imports, primarily from China, are having a detrimental impact on the small-scale domestic producers of these products,” the letter said.

“It is beyond the financial capability of these producers to hire services of legal consultants to file an application requesting for the imposition of anti-dumping and safeguard measures,” it added.

The Morbi Chamber of Commerce, an association of 450 members, also cited lack of employment, dwindling economical status due to lockdown, subsidies and export incentives leveraged by Chinese producers, seeking to restrict the imports.

The small scale manufacturers catering to the domestic market are being forced to close down due to low-priced imports from China, while most of the imported subject products have not been complying with the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodity) Rules, 2011, it added.

comment COMMENT NOW