Govt imposes anti-dumping duty on chemical from China, Korea, Thailand

India has imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to $ 557 per tonne on a chemical used mainly in the adhesive industry from China, Korea, and Thailand for five years to guard domestic players from cheap imports from these nations.

The duty was imposed as the chemical - Epichlorohydrin - was exported to India from these countries at below-normal prices.

"The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)...," the department of revenue said in a notification.

The levy is imposed following recommendations for the same by the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).

Anti-dumping probes are conducted by countries to determine whether domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a countermeasure, they impose these duties under the multilateral regime of Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). 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.

India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to tackle cheap imports from various countries, including China.