The central government on January 24 announced that it revoked the anti-dumping duty that had been imposed on “PVC flex films” originating from the People’s Republic of China.
The Union Finance Ministry had in July last year extended the validity of the extant anti-dumping duty on ‘PVC Flex Film’ imports from China till January 31, 2022.
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), the commerce ministry’s investigating arm, had earlier recommended the withdrawal of anti-dumping duty on PVC flex films imported from China.
It had said: “Even though there is continued dumping of the subject goods from China, the likelihood of continuation/recurrence of injury to the domestic industry in the event of revocation of the duty could not be conclusively established due to lack of sufficient independent corroborative evidence.”
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 the 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. In its probe, the directorate has to conclude whether the imported products are impacting domestic industries.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. India and China are members of this Geneva-based organisation, which deals with global trade norms. China is a key trading partner of India.
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.
(With PTI inputs)
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