Anti-dumping duty

Anti-dumping duty

Subject: Economy

Context: The Directorate General of Trade Remedies has recommended that the existing antidumping duties on import of ceramic tableware and kitchenware (excluding knives and toilet items) from China should be extended to imports of similar items from Malaysia as well as it has established that Chinese items are being routed through Malaysia to avoid the penal duties

Concept:

• It has been found that the ceramic tableware and kitchenware being produced in China were just “incrementally” being processed in Malaysia and then being exported to India, declared as originating in Malaysia to avoid payment of anti-dumping duty
• An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
• Dumping is a process where a company exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market. For protection, many countries impose stiff duties on products they believe are being dumped in their national market, undercutting local businesses and markets.
• Countervailing Duties (CVDs) are tariffs levied on imported goods to offset subsidies made to producers of these goods in the exporting country. CVDs are meant to level the playing field between domestic producers of a product and foreign producers of the same product who can afford to sell it at a lower price because of the subsidy they receive from their government.

Director General of Trade Remedies

• The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (earlier known as Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties) was named in May 2018 as an integrated single window agency for providing comprehensive and swift trade defence mechanism in India.
• Earlier, the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) dealt with anti-dumping and CVD cases, Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) dealt with safeguard measures and DGFT dealt with quantitative restriction (QR) safeguards.
• The DGTR brings DGAD, DGS and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT into its fold by merging them into one single national entity.
• DGTR now deals with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures.
• It also provides trade defence support to our domestic industry and exporters in dealing with increasing instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries. DGTR provides a level playing field to the domestic industry against the adverse impact of the unfair trade practices like dumping and actionable subsidies from any exporting country, by using Trade Remedial methods under relevant framework of WTO arrangements, Customs Tariff Act & Rules and other relevant laws and International agreements, in a transparent and time bound manner.
• The anti-dumping duties will be applicable once they are notified by the Finance Ministry.
• DGTR functions as an attached office of Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.