ANTI-DUMPING DUTY ON 25 CHINESE ITEMS MAY EXTEND

NEWDELHI: India may extend antidumping duties and safeguards on more than two dozen Chinese goods ranging from calculators and USB drives to steel, solar cells and Vitamin E amid concern that a flood of imports would kill domestic manufacturers who will lose duty protection soon against such products , two officials aware of the matter said.

India’s total imports from China was $70.32 billion in 2018-19 with substantial contributions of these 25 items. Anti-dumping duties on these products were imposed 5 years ago and are expiring this year. Safeguard duty on solar cells and modules was imposed on July 30, 2018, and it is expiring on July 29, 2020.

The government is closely monitoring the imports of about 25 items from China, the officials at two different economic ministries said, requesting anonymity.

Dumping, an unfair trade practice that entails the export of a product at a price lower than its normal value, is countered by a punitive anti-dumping duty. A safeguard duty is also imposed to check an unexpected import surge that poses a threat the domestic industry.

Chinese imports under review include sodium citrate, USB flash drives, calculators, hot-rolled flat products of stainless steel,Vitamin C and E, nylon tyre cord, measuring tapes, CFLs, flax fabrics,caustic soda, float glass, tableware, kitchenware, plastic processing machinery and solar cells, officials said. “In the case of sodium citrate, the duty protection against Chinese was expiring on May 19. After a thorough investigation the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommended to extend anti-dumping duty on Chinese imports last Thursday,” one of the officials said. Sodium citrate is a key chemical compound used by the pharmaceutical industry. DGTR, previously known as the Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties, is an arm of the ministry of commerce and industry. The spokesperson for the ministry did not respond to an email query on the matter.