Dumping Duty Imposed On Us, Russian And Canadian Newsprint

The commerce ministry has imposed an anti-dumping duty on newsprint imports despite protests from the Indian Newspaper Society (INS).

Based on a petition by the Indian Newsprint Manufacturers Association, the anti-dumping duty has been levied on imports from the United States, Russia and Canada. The duty ranges from Rs 1,041 to Rs 6,250 per metric tonne.

This is the first time a provisional duty has been levied on newsprint imports.

A ministry notification points out that imports from these three countries have seen a quantum jump in the last few years.

In fact, the share of these three countries in the total market has risen from 21 per cent during 1992-93 to 32 per cent in 1995-96.

 

During the period of investigation of April-October 1996, the total market share of these three countries went up to 54 per cent, hurting the domestic industry.

The levy of the duty will benefit the manufacturers of newsprint in the country.

However, newspapers would tend to lose as imported inputs would become more expensive.

Dumping occurs when the export price of goods to India is less than the price at which these are sold in the exporting countrys domestic market.

The price at which the goods are sold in the domestic market of the exporter is referred to as the normal value of those goods. Therefore, goods are dumped if the export price is less than their normal value.

This is the second case of anti-dumping duty being imposed this month, the other being on graphite electrodes.

Earlier, dumping duty was levied on poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) resin imports from Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Mexico and USA followed by Bisphenol A.

The ministry is also examining a case on PTA filed by Reliance and Bombay Dyeing and the verdict is due to be announced soon.

A case on hot rolled coils filed by the steel industry is also pending with the ministry.