Almost 90% of the laptops and PCs that India imported in January were made in China. Beijings share was significantly higher than 89% in the previous month and 83% in November. According to an investigation conducted by Indian Express using the import-export data bank of the Commerce Ministry, up to January of the 2023–24 financial year (FY), approximately eight out of ten computers sold in India were imported from China.It is worth to be noted that this rising trend has come despite Indias attempt to dissuade the importation of laptops and PCs from China. These initiatives included the government sweetening its IT and a brief notice issued in August 2023 by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) placing the import of these commodities under the restricted category.Notwithstanding, Indias total laptop imports went up by 5% year-on-year in financial year 2024 (until January), as compared to China which came to 6%. If we talk about this in quantitative terms, China exported 64.93 lakh units to India in FY 24 compared to 61.24 lakhs units in FY 23.Nearly 90% of the laptops & personal computers imported by India came from China in Jan!. pic.twitter.com/O1UHLRTSuC— Katyusha (@Indian10000000) April 8, 2024According to data, Chinas average share in imports was near 76%, between April and July 2023. Amid uncertainty around the deferred notification, the share of the country came down to 70% between August and October. However, after the license plan was dropped, between November 2023 to January 2024, the share of Beijing in imports of the good shot up to 87.5%.These numbers have come when the US is aiming to protect American companies such as Apple, Dell and HP, stepped up efforts to discourage the Indian government from imposing strict laptop import restrictions.According to the World Trade Organizations 1997 Information Technology Agreement, India is not allowed to raise the tariff on computers, laptops, or other comparable IT items that are already imported into the nation duty-free. With a commanding 81% market share, China is the worlds biggest supplier of desktop and laptop computers. Chinas exports of these goods to other countries were $163 billion in 2022. Leading companies like Apple, Lenovo, Dell, and HP manufacture the majority of their laptops and PCs in China.
