The commerce ministry has recommended an anti-dumping duty of up to USD 243 per tonne of import of Chinese glass used in home appliances with a view to guard domestic players from cheap inbound shipments from the neighbouring country. The finance ministry will take a final decision on imposing the duty.
Following a complaint by a domestic player, the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has investigated alleged dumping of 'toughened glass for home appliances having thickness between 1.8 MM to 8 MM and area of 0.4 SqM or less' originating in or exported from China. Federation of Safety Glass, an association of safety/speciality glass processors, had filed an application to initiate the anti-dumping investigation. The applicant has alleged that dumping of the product is impacting domestic industries.
In its findings after concluding the probe, the DGTR said that the product was exported to India at a price which is below the normal level and that has resulted in dumping which has impacted domestic makers. "Accordingly, the authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on the imports ...for a period of five years," according to the DGTR notification.
The recommended duty ranges between USD 41.8 per tonne and USD 243 per tonne. Anti-dumping probes are conducted by countries to determine whether domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a countermeasure, they impose these duties under the multilateral regime of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters. India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to tackle cheap imports from various countries, including China.
