Government may impose antidumping duty on ‘O-Acid’ imports from China.

The government may impose anti- dumping duty on imports of a Chinese chemical used in pharma industry and it has initiated a probe against its below-cost imports following complaints from Aarti Drugs Ltd.

The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the commerce ministry, has started the anti- dumping investigation concerning imports of “O-Acid” originating in or exported from China.

It has prima facie found “sufficient evidence” of dumping of the chemical.

“The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry…to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry,” DGAD said in a notification.

It said that Mumbai-based Aarti Drugs Ltd is producer of the product. There is no other known producer of product under consideration in India.

Ofloxacin Acid or O-Acid is used in production of Ofloxacin, which is used to treat bronchitis, pneumonia as well as infections of the skin, bladder, urinary tract, reproductive organs and prostate.

The period of investigation is July 2015 to June 2016 (12 months).

While DGAD recommends the duty to be levied, the Finance Ministry imposes it.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.

Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.

India has initiated maximum anti-dumping cases against ‘below-cost’ imports from China.

Source : financialexpress.com