India Imposes Anti-dumping Duty on Chinese Chemical

India has imposed anti-dumping duty of up to $0.556 per kg on imports of a chemical used in industrial cleaning processes and ceramics manufacture to protect domestic players from cheap Chinese shipments.

The restrictive duty on the import of 'Sodium Tripoly Phosphate' would be imposed for a period of five years, the Department of Revenue said.

The duty would range between $0.238 per kg and $0.556 per kg on imports of the chemical from China, it said.

"The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years... from the date of imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, September 21, 2010, and shall be payable in Indian currency," the department said.

Sodium Tripoly Phosphate is also used in household cleaning products, mainly as a builder, and also in human foodstuffs and animal feeds.

The DG of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), a nodal agency under the commerce ministry, had recommended the imposition of the duty after an investigation.

The DGAD concluded in its probe that the domestic industry had suffered a material injury on account of dumping of the product by China.

The country has already imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of fabric, yarn, nylon tyre cord and several chemicals. Anti-dumping duty is recommended by the commerce ministry, while the finance ministry imposes the same.

Unlike safeguard duties, which are levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duties vary from product to product and from country to country.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.