India imposes anti-dumping duty on six Chinese imports
In order to safeguard domestic players from unfairly priced imports from the neighbouring country, India has imposed anti-dumping duty on six Chinese products so far this month. These duties were imposed on -- PEDA (used in herbicide); Acetonitrile (used in pharma sector); Vitamin-A Palmitate; Insoluble Sulphur; decor paper; and Potassium Tertiary Butoxide. Department of Revenue has said that the duty imposed will be levied for a period of five years on imports of these industrial inputs. The duties were imposed following recommendations for the same from the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), an arm of the commerce ministry.
The duty of on PEDA will range from $1,305.6 to $2,017.9 per tonne, while a duty of up to $481 per tonne has been imposed on Acetonitrile imported from China, Russia and Taiwan. Also, a duty of up to $20.87 per Kg has been imposed on Vitamin -A Palmitate imported from China, European Union and Switzerland, while Insoluble Sulphur which is used in tyre industry, and imported from China and Japan will face a duty of up to $358 per tonne. Moreover, an additional duty of up to $1,710 per tonne have been imposed on Potassium Tertiary Butoxide imported from China and the US. These chemicals are used as a catalyst in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), other pharma processes, agro chemical, speciality chemicals and polymers. Further, a duty of up to $542 per tonne has been levied on decor paper.
In order to protect the domestic industries from surge in cheap imports, countries levy anti-dumping duty under the multilateral regime of the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO). India is taking steps to boost domestic manufacturing and cut imports from China as the country's trade deficit with China widened to $99.2 billion during 2024-25. In the last fiscal, India's exports to China contracted 14.5 per cent to $14.25 billion as against $16.66 billion in 2023-24, while the imports, however, rose by 11.52 per cent in 2024-25 to $113.45 billion against $101.73 billion in 2023-24.
