Government opts not to impose duty on Thai tyres.

CHENNAI: The finance ministry has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on truck and bus radial tyres imported from Thailand. The ministry said in a notification that the “central government has decided not to impose the anti-dumping duty on imports of new pneumatic radial tyres of rubber for buses and lorries with or without tubes and/or flaps originating or exported from Thailand.” 

The move comes after the Directorate General of Trade Remedies recommended that an anti-dumping duty should be imposed on Thai imports of truck and bus radials based on an application filed by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA). 

“According to the latest tyre import data released by commerce ministry, Thailand has displaced China as the largest source of truck & bus radial tyres (TBR) being imported into India.Nearly 50% of truck & bus radial (TBR) tyres imported in the first three quarters of the current fiscal are from Thailand . We will request the government to reconsider an anti-dumping duty on import of TBR from Thailand. Even in passenger car radial (PCR) imports in India, Thailand has come to account for the single largest share of 35% in the April-December period,” said Rajiv Budhraja, director general, ATMA. 

In June 2020, the government had shifted tyres to the restricted category mostly to curb Chinese imports. However, domestic tyre companies claim that China has made huge investments in Thailand.