Anti-Dumping Duty on Chinese Steel Recommended

New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty for five years on imports of cold rolled non-oriented electrical steel from China, with an aim to guard domestic players from cheap inbound shipments.

In its final findings, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has concluded that the product has been exported to India at a price below the normal value, resulting in dumping.

The recommended duty on certain Chinese firms is USD 223.82 per tonne, while on a few others USD 414.92 per tonne.

"The authority recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty... for a period of five years," the DGTR has said in a notification.

While the DGTR recommends the duty, the finance ministry takes the final decision to impose the same.

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 the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO). Both India and China are members of multilateral organisations that deal with global trade norms.

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.

India has about USD 100 billion trade deficit with China.