Govt imposes antidumping duty on chemical from 4 countries

The government has imposed an antidumping duty of up to USD 60.35 per tonne for five years on a chemical used in fertiliser industry from four countries -- Russia, Indonesia, Georgia and Iran.
The move would help guard domestic players from below- cost imports of 'ammonium nitrate' from these countries.
Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd and Smartchem Technologies Ltd had jointly filed an application before the Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) for initiation of the antidumping investigations.
The finance ministry imposed the duty after the DGAD in its finding concluded that the product has been exported to India from these four countries below its normal value, resulting in dumping.

The government, after considering the findings of DGAD "hereby imposes" the antidumping duty, the department of revenue said in a notification.
DGAD, under the commerce ministry, has recommended imposition of the duty on the imports.

The duty ranges between USD 11.42 to USD 60.35 per tonne.
"The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)," it said.
Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports.
As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.
India has initiated maximum anti-dumping cases against below-cost imports from China.