Govt recommends continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese Aluminium foil

The commerce ministry has recommended the continuation of anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil, used in food and pharma sectors, for five years to guard domestic players from cheap imports.

In a notification, the ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has said there is continued dumping of the foil from China, and the imports are likely to enter the Indian market at dumped prices in the event of expiry of the duty.

"The authority recommends continued imposition of anti-dumping duty...so as to remove the likelihood of dumping and injury to the domestic industry," the directorate said.

It has recommended the duty in the range of USD 469 and USD 1,106 per tonne.

The finance ministry takes the final decision to impose this duty. The duty was earlier imposed by the ministry in May 2017.

Hindalco Industries, Raviraj Foils, Jindal India jointly filed an application before the DGTR for the initiation of sunset review investigation concerning imports of 'Aluminium Foil 5.5 Micron to 80 Micron' originating in or exported from China.

The applicants sought the continuation of the anti-dumping duty.

The request was based on the ground that the expiry of the anti-dumping duty was likely to result in continuation/recurrence of dumping of the foil and consequent injury to the domestic industry, the notification has said.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting the margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR, in India.

Imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime. India and China are members of this Geneva-based organisation, which deals with global trade norms. China is a key trading partner of India.

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.