Sitharaman says Chinese trade barriers restrict Indian market access

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said non-tariff barriers are the biggest obstacle to trade between India and China, arguing that limited access for Indian goods has contributed to a widening trade imbalance. The account centers on her criticism of Chinese market-access restrictions and her call to address the problem through investigations and bilateral discussions.

Sitharaman said India had repeatedly raised concerns about barriers facing its products in the Chinese market but had made little progress. She identified generic medicines, bovine meat, vegetables and other perishables as goods for which India had sought greater access.

She described Indian producers in these sectors as having potential in China; that is her assessment, rather than an independently established measure of export capacity or demand. The minister cited phytosanitary measures and other restrictions as obstacles.

Her comments identify a specific mechanism: rules or restrictions that can limit market access even when the issue is not a tariff. The accounts attribute the claim that China imposes these measures to Sitharaman; they do not provide China’s account or independently verify how particular restrictions are applied.

Sitharaman said India had chosen negotiations rather than punitive tariffs to address the trade imbalance. She also said investigations and bilateral discussions could help resolve the market-access issues. Her remarks therefore set out two related approaches: continued engagement with China and examination of the restrictions she says impede Indian exports.

The reports do not describe a negotiated outcome or a change in market-access rules. The accounts share the central claim that Sitharaman considers non-tariff barriers the leading obstacle in India-China trade.

Open’s account emphasizes her assertion that restricted access has contributed to a widening imbalance; Fortune India also reports her position that India has avoided punitive tariffs and pursued negotiations. These details complement one another rather than establish competing accounts of the same action.

Sitharaman also expressed hope that the proposed India-US trade agreement would be concluded at the earliest. That was a separate trade-policy point in her remarks, not a reported development in negotiations with China. The coverage does not state a date for completion or describe the agreement’s terms.

The next concrete steps identified in her comments are investigations and bilateral discussions over the restrictions. Whether those processes lead to improved access for the Indian goods she named, or change the trade imbalance she described, remains unresolved in the reporting.