Govt may impose antidumping duty on imports of tin mill flat rolled steel products from 4 nations

The government may impose anti-dumping duty on imports of certain types of steel products from the EU, Japan, the US and South Korea, as the commerce ministry has started an investigation into an alleged dumping of the item following complaints from domestic players.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the commerce ministry, has initiated the probe as it has found evidence of dumping of "coated/plated tin mill flat rolled steel products" from these countries.

"The authority accordingly initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry...to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping," the DGTR said in a notification.

If it would established that dumping is impacting domestic players, it would recommend imposition of a certain amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.

The finance ministry will take final call on imposition of the duty after considering the recommendations of the directorate.

Two firms including Tinplate Company of India have filed an application for imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports.

The product under consideration is mainly used for packaging of both edible and non-food items.

The period of investigation covers January-December 2018. However, for the purpose of injury investigation, the period will also cover the data for the 2015-18 period.

Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells an imported product at an artificially low price.

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

As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organization.

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