Revenue dept imposes anti-dumping duty on Chinese chemical for 5 years

The levy on Zeolite 4A' [Detergent grade] has been imposed on recommendations of Directorate General of Trade Remedies after conducting a probe in this regard

The revenue department has imposed anti-dumping duty for five years on a Chinese chemical used in making detergents to guard domestic players from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

The levy on Zeolite 4A' [Detergent grade] has been imposed on recommendations of Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) after conducting a probe in this regard.

The duty in the range of $163.90-207.72 per tonne of the chemical will remain in force for five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier), said the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in a notification.

DGTR, the investigation arm of the commerce ministry, had conducted the probe on complaint of Gujarat Credo Mineral Industries and Chemicals India which alleged injury to the domestic industry on account of the cheap import from China.

In its final findings, DGTR said there was a "positive dumping margin" as well as material injury to the domestic industry, caused by the dumped imports, and recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping levy.

Detergent grade Zeolites are primarily water softener compounds, used to remove calcium and magnesium ions from hard water. Soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted mopping up calcium ions. It is mainly used as a builder in detergents.

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 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.

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 $63.12 billion in 2017-18 from $51.11 billion in the previous fiscal.