India mulls anti-dumping duty on Chinese glass fibre imports

NEW DELHI: India is considering imposition of anti-dumping duty of upto 40.9 per cent on the import of glass fibre, used in automobiles, electrical insulation and heat resistant fabrics, from China to protect domestic players.

After concluding that "the domestic industry has suffered material injury," the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has recommended the duty of upto 40.9 per cent on the import of glass fibre and articles (from China).

"...the Authority (DGAD) is of the view that imposition of duty is required to offset dumping and injury," DGAD said.

On an application from domestic industry, the DGAD, an arm of the commerce ministry, had initiated an investigation into the dumping of the fibre from China.

The restrictive duty would range from 7.6 per cent to 40.9 per cent on the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of imports of the fibre from China, it said.

The DGAD found that during the period of investigation (April 2008 - Sept 2009), the imports increased to 25, 831 tonnes from 5,800 tonnes in 2005-06.

The country has already imposed duty on imports of fabric, yarn, nylon tyre cord and several chemicals from China.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probe to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the WTO.

The duty also ensures fair trading practices and creates a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters resorting to dumping.

Unlike safeguard duty, which is levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country.