Commerce ministry recommends anti-dumping duty on Malaysian calculators

India may impose anti-dumping duty on imports of electronic calculators from Malaysia with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports from that country.

After conducting a probe, the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended USD 0.92 per piece anti-dumping duty.

"The authority considers it necessary and recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports," DGTR said in a notification.

In its final findings of the probe, the directorate has concluded that the product has been exported to India from Malaysia below its associated normal value, which is amounting to dumping.

The domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumping, it said.

While DGTR recommends the duty, the finance ministry will take the final call to impose the same.

The anti-dumping duty, if imposed, would help guard domestic players against cheap imports of the product.

Ajanta LLP had filed the application for imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports from Malaysia.

Malaysia is a key trading partner of India in the Southeast Asian region.

The bilateral trade between the countries increased to USD 17.25 billion in 2018-19 from USD 14.71 billion in 2017-18.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts price of that product in the importing country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR, in India.

In its probe, the directorate has to conclude whether the imported products are impacting domestic industries.

Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.