'We don't find fair pricing from China': Piyush Goyal on unfair trade practices amid tariff war

"There is no belligerence from me. I laid down the fact very calmly that we don't find fair pricing (from China)," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Goyal said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in China with the Communist Party of China led to the reduction in tariffs on Chinese products.

"We wonder what that MoU was, signed by Rahul Gandhi in China with the Communist Party of China, after which tariffs were brought down very significantly on products which China massively dumped into India, which killed many of our local manufacturing ecosystems and made us dependent on China," Goyal said.

The Union Minister said that the trade deficit with China soared during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for 10 years.

"When Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid down office in 2004, the India-China trade deficit was at a certain level," Goyal said, adding that "in the 10 years of the UPA government, that trade deficit soared by 25 times."

Goyal emphasised that India is still suffering from those 10 years of mismanagement of the economy.

Meanwhile, China said that it would "fight to the end" and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports.

Trump's threat of additional tariffs on China raised fresh concerns that his drive to rebalance the global economy could intensify a financially destructive trade war.

If Trump implements his new tariffs on Chinese products, US tariffs on Chinese goods would reach a combined 104 per cent.