Anti-Dumping Duty on Chinese Aluminium Foil: DGTR Recommends

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The commerce ministry's arm DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil with an aim to guard domestic industry from cheap imports.

The foil is used as a packaging material for conservation and preservation of edible and food products.

Following a complaint by domestic players, Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated a probe in the imports of 'aluminium foil up to 80 micron, excluding aluminium foil below 5.5 micron for non-capacitor application' from China.

Hindalco Industries, Shyam Sel & Power Ltd, Shree Venkateshwara Electrocast, Ravi Raj Foils, GLS Foils Product and LSKB Aluminium Foils had filed the application on behalf of the domestic industry for the probe.

In its preliminary findings, the directorate concluded that the dumped imports have adversely affected the growth of the domestic industry in respect of both volume and price parameters.

The authority provisionally concludes that the material injury suffered by the domestic industry has been caused by the dumped imports from China, the DGTR said in a notification.

"Accordingly, the authority recommends imposition of provisional anti-dumping duty on the imports," it said.

The recommended duty ranges between USD 619 per tonne and USD 873 per tonne.

The finance ministry takes the final decision to impose duties.

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 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.

Both the countries are members of the WTO. India had huge trade deficit of USD 85 billion in 2023-24 with the neighbouring country. The government here is taking several steps to cut the imports like rolling out of the production linked incentive schemes.