India-China Trade Difference: Full Reach idle off

Ships leaving Nhava Sheva port, across the harbour from Mumbai, tend to
ride higher on the water than when they arrive. India's trading statistics
explain why: steel and other industrial goods from China weigh down the
ships as they come in, to be replaced on the way out by fluffy cotton bales,
pills and, given India's perennial trade deficit in goods, empty containers.
India's economy grew by 7.5% last year, cruising past China's 6.9% growth.
Yet the deficit in goods trade with China continues to widen, to over 2% of
GDP last year. For Indian policymakers this is an irksome reminder of the
weakness of the country's manufacturers. Halving the trade shortfall with
China would be enough to eliminate India's overall current account deficit,
and thus the need for external financing.
The government's ideas for shrinking the shortfall have been sadly
predictable. The minimum import prices it imposed earlier this month on
various grades of Chinese steel, which it claims are being "dumped" below
cost, come on top of other anti , dumping levies and taxes on steel and
myriad other products, from raw silk to melamine dinner sets. No country
has used such measures as energetically as India over the past 20 years,
according to the World Trade Organization.
The commerce minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has called for a devaluation of
the rupee to curb imports and boost exports. Yet the rupee has been falling
against the yuan for years, with little effect on trade. And a weakening
currency could revive inflation, which falling oil prices and sound monetary
policy have helped tame.

To idle off: idle adj. unemployed or not being used (idle the hours away:
spend fruitlessly (to idle the engine: run at low speed)
Ride: travel over a surface (the car rides well) / fig. : to move as if by an
intangible force (the president rode into office on a tide of discontent)
Weigh down: hold or bend smth down by applying weight ( the vines were
weighed down by the grapes) / burden or oppress( the responsibilities of the
new job weighed me down)
Current account: that part of the balance of payments that includes the
price of imports and exports, investment income and unilateral transfers
On the way out: while leaving (we were on our way out when the phone
rang)
To halve: reduce, lessen by half / to share equally: the twins halved
everything.
Shrink: to cause to shrink: the treatment shrunk the tumour / to shrink: to
because smaller/ to show reluctance: to shrink from making a sacrifice
Shortfall: a failure to obtain a specified amount or result, a defect, deficiency,
paucity, scantiness
Irksome: causing annoyance, weariness, irritating, unwelcome, burdensome
Reminder: a note that reminds of something undone, a prompting, cue,
nudge
Cotton bale: a large bundle or raw or finished material tightly bound, to
bale : wrap in a bale
Perennial: recurrent, lasting
To use measures energetically
Dump below the cost: to dump: empty out as by overturning or tilting / sell at
a lower price /Anti-dumping measures levies / fig. she was dumped by her
long-term lover.
Melamine: a colourless compound used in making resins
Fluffy: light and airy (fluffy curls, whip the eggs until fluffy) / light or frivolous
(a fluffy comedy)
To tame: subdue, curb (he tamed his anger) / to bring from an uncontrolled
to a controlled state ( we need some gel to tame his hair) adj. tame:
naturally unafraid (the sea otter is gentle and tame)
Call for: demand, claim
Sound: showing common sense, level-headed, having no logical flaws
To have an effect on
A deficit in
Myriad: multitude, scores, a flood of, swarm, horde, countless
To widen: expand, dilate, stretch
To cruise: to search the streets or public places for asexual partner / to travel
at a moderate speed
Overall: total, comprehensive, complete
Come on top of: following closely on (hail came on top of a violent
thunderstorm)
A dinner set: a table service for serving dinner
Revive: bring back to consciousness / to restore to use
Grades of steel: position or degree in a scale (small-grade eggs)
Come in: (for a shipment or smth) arrive: when do you expect the tomatoes
to come in?