Page 9 - Plastics News September 2018

FROM THE EDITOR'S PEN

Could India gain from the US – China Trade war?

es, this is the most favorite question and is discussed among the industry across the forum.
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On August 23, both the countries began imposing penalties on goods to the tune of $16 billion.
Among the hundreds of categories of products, this latest round included China’s 25 percent
tariff on recovered PET, PE, PVC, PS and other plastics.

The International Monetary Fund says an escalation of the tit-for-tat tariffs could shave 0.5%
off global growth by 2020. Moreover, Separate releases recently indicated growth in China's

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to tariff concerns.

Morgan Stanley estimates that a full-blown escalation of the trade dispute could knock 0.81
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Mr. Rajiv B.Tolat
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remains according to the Economist, 30% of the value of the goods China exports to America
originates from third-party countries.

Now given this scenario what is that India could look for? Most of them feel that India has
nothing to lose (be it investment or exports), on the contrary it has higher chances of gains.
India actually stands out reasonably well. Indian earnings growth is still not so bad. One starts

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China. However, if crude oil prices fall as a result, then other things staying the same, it will
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extent and therefore gain. This could offer an opportunity for India. India can become more
competitive in segments such as textile, garments and gems and jewellery since India already
has an edge. Also as far as the Plastics Industry is concerned India’s plastic exports grew by
17.1 per cent during the year 2017-18. Perhaps there exists a window of opportunity for the
Plastics industry to grab a larger share of the pie. However, this remains to be seen if the
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Rajiv B.Tolat
Hon. Editor
publication@aipma.net

9 September 2018 Plastics News