Anti-dumping duties detrimental to trade ties: Saudi Arabia.

New Delhi: Saudi Arabia on Thursday said imposition of anti-dumping duty by India on various products would be detrimental to the trade relations between the two countries.

The issue was raised by Minister of Commerce and Industry of Saudi Arabia Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma here.

"The Saudi side raised the issue of anti-dumping duty imposed on various items of their industry. (which) is detrimental for the trade relations between the two countries," an official statement said.

However, the Indian side explained that the anti-dumping duties are imposed after due diligence and it is a quasi judicial exercise.

Sharma informed them that India had withdrawn such duties from two items - Polypropelene and Pentaerythritol of Saudi Arabia.

The anti-dumping duty is aimed at ensuring fair-trade practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis a-vis foreign producers and exporters resorting to dumping.

The statement also said that both the sides agreed to work towards deeper economic engagement, including through more investments, joint ventures and technology transfers.

The two ministers laid emphasis on the need to transform buyer-seller relationship, foster deeper energy partnership with investments in petro-chemical complexes, modernisation of refineries and joint ventures.

Further, Sharma highlighted the need to diversify India's export basket to Saudi Arabia. He said that items such as pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, sugar and wheat have huge potential for export from India.

The Saudi side, on the other hand, highlighted the need to focus on logistics and transportation.

Both the ministers also pointed out the need for early conclusion of a free trade agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and India for boosting trade.

GCC, India's third largest trading partner, is a customs union comprising of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sharma also invited Saudi investors to actively participate in the construction projects for highways, ports, airports, metros, supply chains and power plants.

The bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia rose from USD 42.048 billion in 2012 to USD 48.172 billion in 2013.

Source : zeenews.india.com