No anti-dumping duty on flat rolled steel products from 15 countries
New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI):
The government has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of flat-rolled products of stainless steel from 15 countries including China, Korea, European Union, Japan, USA, and Singapore, according to an office memorandum of the department of revenue.
The commerce ministry’s investigation arm DGTR in December last year recommended imposition of the duty for five years on the product after concluding in a probe that domestic industry was impacted due to dumping of the goods from these countries. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) suggested the duty in the range of USD 67 per ton to USD 944 per ton. The probe was conducted following a complaint by the domestic industry.
While the directorate recommends these duties, the department of revenue takes the final decision to impose the same. “The central government has decided not to impose the anti-dumping duty on imports of flat rolled products of stainless steel from China, Korea, European Union, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, USA, Thailand, South Africa, UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam, and Malaysia, proposed in the said final findings,” the memorandum has said.
In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.
Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers.
The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR in India The imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.
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.