Govt imposes anti-dumping duty on imports of Sodium Nitrite from China

The Ministry of Finance has decided to impose anti-dumping duty of up to $515.94 per tonne on imports of Sodium Nitrite, chemical from China, which are used in the industries such as pharmaceuticals and dyeing, for five years in order to protect domestic industry. In 2006, government has imposed anti-dumping duty on Sodium Nitrite, mainly used in meat processing and textile industry.

'The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)...,' the department of revenue under the ministry of finance, said in notification.

The decision comes following a review carried out by the government on continuation of duty on Sodium Nitrite. The commerce ministry had recommended continuation of the duty. The anti-dumping duty was originally imposed after it was found that the shipments were exported to India from China at below the normal price. As per the finding, it was concluded that the domestic industry had suffered a material injury due to dumping of the chemical at a predatory price.

Anti dumping duties are different from safeguard duties, they vary from product to product and from country to country. Countries started anti-dumping duties probes to find whether domestic industry has been hurt due to increase in cheap imports. Since it is a counter measure, countries impose it in the multilateral WTO regime. Anti-dumping measures are taken to protect domestic players and to ensure fair trade. It is not a measure to restrict imports or reason for unfair increase in the cost of production.

Dumping occurs when the export price of goods imported into India is less than the normal value of like articles sold in the domestic market of the exporter. Imports at cheap or low prices do not per se indicate dumping. Anti-dumping action can be taken only when there is an Indian industry which produces “like articles” when compared to the allegedly dumped imported goods. The Indian industry must be able to show that dumped imports are causing or are threatening to cause material injury to the Indian ‘domestic industry’. Material retardation to the establishment of an industry is also regarded as injury.