India may impose anti-circumvention duty on chemical from China, Korea

PTI, Jun 24, 2020, 5:35 PM IST

New Delhi: India may impose an anti-circumvention duty on a chemical, used in electrical, electronic, mechanical and chemical from Korea and China with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports from these countries.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd, on behalf of the domestic industry, has filed the application before the directorate to investigate the matter and impose the duty.

The commerce ministry’s investigation arm DGTR (Directorate General of Trade Remedies) has initiated a probe into an alleged circumvention of the anti-dumping duty imposed on Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) by the countries. It has alleged that anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of Polytetrafluoroethylene from Russia and China are being circumvented.

“On the basis of the duly substantiated application by the applicant…the authority hereby initiates an anti-circumvention investigation,” DGTR has said in a notification. The period of investigation is April 2019-December 2019 (9 months) and the injury period will cover the data from 2016 to 2019 also.

“The countries involved in the circumvention are Republic of Korea and China,” it added.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms. 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.