India starts probe on alleged dumping of dust control film

The government has initiated a probe into alleged dumping of dust control films imported from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea following complaints from the domestic industry.
Garware Polyester Ltd has filed an application before the Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) for initiation of anti-dumping investigation and imposition of the duty on imports of "sun and/or dust control film" from these countries.
The commerce ministry's investigation arm - DGAD - has prima facie found "sufficient evidence" of dumping of the film which justify the initiation of the probe.
"The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry," the DGAD has said in a notification.

If established that dumping has caused material injury to domestic players, it would recommend imposition of anti- dumping duty on imports of the film from these nations.
The product is a kind of specialty polyethylene/polyester film. It is known by different names in the trade and market parlance, such as sun films, window film, solar films and solar window films.

The investigation covers the April 2016 to June 2017 (15 months) period. However, for the purpose of injury investigation, the period will also cover the data of previous three years (2013-16).
According to the notification, the applicant is the sole producer of these films and it accounts for 100 per cent production of the product.

Increasing imports and dumping of goods from China have always been an area of concern for Indian companies.
India's exports to China were only USD 10.17 billion in 2016-17 as against imports of USD 61.28 billion from it.
The DGAD is also probing dumping of several other products such as certain chemicals from the neighbouring country.
India is one of the most attractive markets for global producers due to its large middle class population.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. Both India and China are members of the Geneva-based body.
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.

The country has imposed the duty on as many as 98 products, as on December 27 last year, imported from China.