SC Refuses To Stay Anti-Dumping Duty On Telcom Gear From China.

The Supreme Court today declined to stay the anti-dumping duty on import of optical fibre transmission equipments from China and Israel, and asked telcom majors Idea Cellular and Tata Tele Services to approach the sector tribunal to resolve the dispute.

A bench comprising justices J M Panchal and H M Gokhale told the telecom companies that there was already an alternative forum of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and the companies could not come directly to the apex court.

Following this, the telecom companies withdrew their plea challenging the levy imposed by the government on import of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) transmission equipments used for transmission on optical fibre cables in India.

SDH is a standard technology for synchronous data transmission on optical media and provides faster and less expensive network interconnection.The apex court asked them to challenge the findings of the Designated Authority before CESTAT.

The two companies are facing anti-dumping proceedings since 2009 for import of SDH transmission equipment by the Ministry of Commerce.

Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh High court had stayed the investigation proceedings against the telecom firms.This was later challenged before the apex court by one Tejas Networks, a domestic product manufacturer and research company. It had complained that the foreign manufacturers from China and Israel has dropped prices of SDH by 60 to 70 per cent and were harming the domestic market.

Following it, the Apex Court had earlier asked the the designated authority to pass a final order.Countries initiate an anti-dumping probe to see whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of cheap imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the WTO.

The duty also ensures fair trading practices and creates a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters resorting to dumping.
Unlike safeguard duty, which is levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country.

Source : deccanherald.com