India slaps anti-dumping duty on yarns, fabrics

India has imposed anti-dumping duties, ranging between $112 and $527 per tonne, on all fully drawn or fully oriented yarn/spin draw yarn/flat yarn of polyester (non-textured and non-POY) imported from China, Thailand and Vietnam to check cheap import of these goods.

The anti-dumping duty, imposed with immediate effect, will remain in force till 25 September 2009, a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said.

The anti-dumping duty was imposed following recommendations of the directorate general of anti-dumping & allied duties (DGAD), which said that imports from China, Thailand and Vietnam at below normal value has caused ''material injury'' to the domestic industry.

The CBEC also imposed an anti-dumping duty of up to Rs5 per meter on flax fabric imported from China and Hong Kong.

India had, earlier this week, imposed safeguard duty of up to 35 per cent on some of the aluminum products to protect domestic industry against cheap imports from China.

Unlike anti-dumping duty, which varies from product to product and country to country, safeguard duties are levied in a uniform rate.

While the impost will protect the interest of the Indian polyester manufacturers who has complained of dumping of these products at prices lower than those prevailing in the home markets of these countries, the Surat textile industry, the largest consumer of this product in the country, had protested against the decision.

There is already an anti-dumping duty on existing POY imports and the imposition of a dumping duty on full drawn polyester yarn (filament/silk yarn) would add to the cost of the fabric and raise prices at a time when demand goes up, they pointed out.