India imposes anti-dumping duty on Chinese polyster to safeguard domestic players against below-cost imports

NewsBharati    11-Jul-2018
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New Delhi, July 11: With an aim to safeguard domestic players against below-cost imports, India on Tuesday imposed the anti-dumping duty of up to USD 528 per tonne for 5 years on a Chinese polyester yarn used in automobile and other industries.

 

The Finance Ministry took this decision after Commerce Ministry’s arm Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) recommended the duty after an investigation into alleged dumping of ‘High Tenacity Polyester Yarn' from China. However, the investigation was done following complaints by domestic players, who alleged that below-cost import of the yarn from China is hurting the industry in India.

The finance ministry in a notification said, "The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) and shall be paid in Indian currency."

“The duty imposed is in the range of USD 174-528 per tonne. High Tenacity Polyester Yarn, also called industrial yarn, is used for the manufacture of tyre cord fabric, seat belt webbing, ropes, coated fabric, conveyor belt fabric and automotive hose,” the notification read.

The anti-dumping duty is also aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters. India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to check cheap imports from countries including China, with which the country has a major concern of widening trade deficit. The deficit has increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18.

On July 9, clinching a deal with India on the reduction of import duties on Indian medicines including anti-cancer drugs, which are highly expensive in the country, China said that it will reduce the import tariff of Indian medicine. Importantly, Beijing earlier announced a cut in import duties on over 8,500 Indian items. It said it will relax taxes on more Indian goods.

Meanwhile, China and the United States have been engaged in a tariff war in recent months after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs worth billions of dollars for Chinese products.