India may impose anti-dumping duty on a Chinese chemical

India may impose anti-dumping duty of up to USD 207.72 per tonne for a period of five years on a Chinese chemical used in the detergent industry to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), after concluding its probe, has recommended the duty on imports of 'Zeolite 4A (Detergent Grade)' imported from China.

"The authority recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty for a period of five years, so as to address the injury to the domestic industry," the DGTR said in a notification.

In its probe, the directorate has concluded that the dumping of this chemical has impacted the domestic industry.

The duty recommended was in the range of USD 163.9 per tonne to USD 207.72 per tonne.

The final call to impose the duty would be taken by the Finance Ministry.

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The imports increased to 31,809 tonnes during the period of investigation, which was April 2016 to June 2017 (15 months). It was 24,929 tonne in 2013-14.

Gujarat Credo Mineral Industries and Chemicals India had filed an application for the investigation.

Countries carry out anti-dumping probe to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports.

As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of World Trade organisation (WTO).

The duty is also aimed at ensuring fair trading practises and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters.

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India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to check cheap imports from countries including China, with which India has a major concern of widening trade deficit.

The deficit has increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51.1 billion in the previous fiscal.