The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), the investigation arm of the Commerce Ministry, has taken suo motu cognizance and initiated anti-dumping investigation into the import of three products from China. These products include frameless glass mirrors and fasteners. This step has been taken to protect Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) from cheap imports from the neighboring country.
Generally, anti-dumping investigations are initiated on the basis of applications filed by domestic producers. But many times small industries are not aware of the procedures for this, in such a situation DGTR has started this investigation at its own level. According to three separate notifications, the DGTR has said it is investigating alleged dumping of telescopic channel drawers, frameless glass and fasteners. The objective of this step is to provide necessary protection to MSME producers from dumped goods from China.
This is the biggest case of investigation initiated by China on its own. In 2000, dumping of dry batteries from China was investigated and duty was imposed for five years. A senior government official said, this is the first time that the investigation unit which keeps an eye on dumping has taken suo motu cognizance and started investigation into dumping of three products simultaneously.
The Directorate had received information that Indian producers of these three products are facing tough competition due to cheap imports from China. According to a notification, a memorandum received from Highhope Furniture Fitting Manufacturers Associates Pvt Ltd, a consortium of 25 manufacturers of telescopic channel drawers, said there was a significant increase in imports from China, due to which Indian production has come down significantly. In this, the value of imports has been fixed at Rs 356 crore.
Information on frameless glass was received from the All India Glass Manufacturers Association. Most of the producers in this category belong to MSME category. India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on many products from various countries including China. If the investigation reveals that imports of these products are causing injury to the domestic industry, the DGTR recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty. The final decision on imposing fees has to be taken by the Finance Ministry.