Withdrawal of QCOs opens floodgates to cheap Chinese imports: GTRI

India’s decision to withdraw Quality Control Orders (QCOs) on more than 25 industrial raw materials is likely to ease compliance burdens and reduce costs for MSMEs, but the move risks unleashing a wave of low-priced imports from China, said Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in a latest report on Friday.

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The report further warned that while the rollback corrects years of regulatory over-reach, the abrupt nature of the withdrawal leaves domestic manufacturers exposed at a time when anti-dumping duties have also lapsed, creating what GTRI calls a “protection vacuum.”

GTRI in its report suggested that India needs a phased QCO reset backed by real-time import monitoring and swift trade-remedy action to prevent predatory pricing and safeguard upstream capacity while keeping input costs competitive for user industry, small firms, exporters.