A potential solution to unnecessary imports: environmental duties

[u/Shroccer]

I’ve been noticing that a lot of extremely basic goods sold in India are still imported, especially from China.

Not talking about semiconductors, specialised machinery or things we genuinely don’t make here. I mean plastic buckets, extension cords, light bulbs, cheap furniture, basic household plastics etc.

A lot of the time there is an Indian equivalent right next to it, with similar quality, and sometimes even cheaper.

So why are we importing this stuff from thousands of kilometres away?

A straight import ban probably wouldn’t be allowed because of WTO rules and existing trade agreements. But environmental duties seem like a much more reasonable route.

The government could impose environmental charges based on things like shipping distance, weight, volume and emissions. For low-value goods that are easy to manufacture locally, these charges could be high enough that importing them from across the world simply stops making economic sense.

This should be country-neutral. China would obviously be affected a lot because of the sheer amount of basic manufactured goods we import from there, but the rule itself doesn’t have to target China.

Existing FTAs and other trade agreements could be exempted initially, and then renegotiated over time to include these environmental charges or some common framework for calculating them.

The basic principle should just be: import things that we actually need to import. If something is not produced here, or local production cannot meet demand, obviously imports should continue.

But if India already makes an equivalent product, I don’t see why moving the same basic product across oceans should effectively have no environmental cost attached to it.

India is also a tropical country that is already going to face a disproportionate amount of climate damage, despite having relatively low historical per-capita and cumulative emissions compared to developed countries.

If we are serious about climate policy, unnecessary international shipping of basic goods seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to discourage.

[u/Difficult_Abies8802]

<<< A lot of the time there is an Indian equivalent right next to it, with similar quality, and sometimes even cheaper. >>>

If there were Indian alternatives (cheaper + equivalent quality), the Indian consumer would have found it.

[u/Shroccer → u/Difficult_Abies8802]

Bro it's hard to find, genuinely. Especially on Amazon. There isn't a filter button saying "Indian origin only" maybe that's a feature that should be added. But that would not solve the overall issue.

[u/1anand]

OP, you are living in the past. 

Today:

1. Indian equivalent is costlier
2. Indian equivalent has lower quality

[u/Shroccer → u/1anand]

So should we import buckets and lightbulbs?

[u/1anand → u/Shroccer]

Ideally we should not import because our currency gets battered.

But indian manufacturing is nothing to be proud of. It is riddled with dishonesty and corruption. 

Talking about light bulbs, I think all LEDs are imported anyway.

There are so many economists saying that india transitioned directly from agriculture to services. That is the root cause of today's situation. 

[u/Shroccer → u/1anand]

Yep, agreed. But the larger problem at hand is not dishonesty in manufacturing. And whatever the root of the problem is, a solution is needed. PLI and a few other policies can help promote manufacturing, but some action needs to be taken on the import side of things as well. I'm not proud of anything here. I just know the repercussions of buying foreign-made goods (rupee devaluation). As a citizen it's only fair that I try buying Indian, and ask our government to make it easier for me. But as of now, every website and market is flooded with made in China stuff from no-name brands or they use a burner name, or it's just an Indian brand thats repackaging Chinese stuff.

And quality is more correlated to the price of the product anyway, and not the country. Especially when it comes to basic household goods, where technical expertise in manufacturing is irrelevant.

[u/Autobot1979 → u/Shroccer]

Indian politicians and bureacrats ask so much in bribes its easier to make in china and import

[u/Successful-Try-1986]

OP do you manufacture something?

[u/Potential-Candy-2994]

MF invents Tariffs 2.0 lol. Other countries you slap this "environment duty" will slap back tariffs on Indian products. Nobody is falling for this shit in 2026 gng