WTO pen drive case: Government examines DGAD stand on Taiwan imports

NEW DELHI: With Taiwan dragging India to WTO for imposing anti-dumping duty on its exports of pen drives, the Commerce Ministry will examine the issue before going for bilateral consultations at the global trade body.

The ministry will examine the recommendations of the of Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD) which it had made in December last year to impose the restrictive duty to protect domestic industry, an official has said. In the consultation, India would contest the claims of Taiwan.

In May, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the Finance Ministry had imposed the anti-dumping duty on imports of USB flash drives or pen drives from China and Taiwan. The DGAD in its probe had concluded that the product was exported from these countries into the Indian market at prices less than their normal values.

India had imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of USB Flash Drives from China and Chinese Taipei at $3.06 per piece and $3.12 apiece respectively for five years.

On September 24, Taiwan filed a case in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India for imposing of the duty on imports of these flash drives. “Chinese Taipei notified the WTO Secretariat on September 24, 2015 of a request for consultations with India regarding anti-dumping duties imposed by India on the USB flash drives imported from Chinese Taipei,” the WTO had said.

The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO. Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation.

After 60 days, if consultations have failed to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel. USB Flash Drives in the market parlance are also known by various other names such as pen drive, keychain drives, key drives, USB sticks, flash sticks, jump sticks, USB keys or memory keys.