While the Trump administration is forcing Beijing’s hand in a tariff war that might soon see China slap duties on a value of products equal to that of all of their imports from the US, the rest of the world is tying itself ever closer to the Middle Kingdom.
That includes India, which might be presented with a tremendous opportunity to snatch Chinese market share out of the hands of US businesses.
An Indian commerce department study found that there are at least 100 products shipped to China from the US, mainly commodities, that Indian exports can replace.
The study, as reported by The Economic Times on Monday, said such products include cotton, corn, almonds, wheat and sorghum.
Other countries have already benefitted from the opportunity. Following Beijing’s imposition of the first round of retaliatory tariffs on US goods, which focused on agricultural products, Brazil and Argentina both swooped in to increase exports of soybeans to China.
Elsewhere around the globe, developed countries, including Germany and Japan, are also scrambling to expand their presence in the Chinese market, despite the escalating trade conflict.
US agriculture is not that really competitive. It receives financial grants and aid or subsidies from the US government under a wide variety of other names distorting free trade in agricultural products. This hurts third world countries economies which are dependent upon agriculture.
While all nations assist their farmers to ensure food security, US goes far beyond that point.