India imposes anti-dumping duty on two Chinese products

India has so far this month imposed anti-dumping duty on two Chinese goods, a refrigerant gas and some types of steel products, to protect domestic players from cheap imports from the neighboring country.

These duties were imposed because these products – cold-rolled non-oriented electrical steel, and 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane or R-134A – were exported from China to India at below normal prices.

According to a Finance Ministry notification, India has imposed a penalty of $223.82 per tonne on some Chinese companies on steel goods, while some others have been fined $415 per tonne for five years.

The gas was fined up to $5,251 per tonne for five years.

According to a separate notification, India said it has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of ‘Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch’ exported from Vietnam. It is widely used in plastics industry.

These duties have been imposed by the Commerce Ministry’s investigative arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), after examining each of these items separately and recommending duties.

Anti-dumping investigations are conducted by countries to determine whether domestic industries have suffered injury due to an increase in cheap imports.

As a countermeasure, they enforce these duties under the multilateral regime of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). The purpose of this duty is to ensure fair trade practices and create a level playing field for domestic producers compared to foreign producers and exporters.

India, China and Vietnam are members of the WTO.

India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to deal with cheap imports from various countries, including China.

Imposition of high tariffs on many countries by the US has led to dumping of goods in countries like India.