‘Indian firms flouting norms to import Chinese goods ’

Anti-dumping curbs being side-stepped, says MPs’ panel

Companies in India are side-stepping the anti-dumping measures imposed by the government by deliberately misclassifying items imported from China, according to a report tabled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce. The report also notes that the government has been reluctant to review the effectiveness of its anti-dumping measures.

Lax implementation

‘“The anti-dumping framework also suffers with lax implementation,” the report on the impact of Chinese goods on the Indian economy said. “The unscrupulous elements are able to import the Chinese goods by circumventing the goods put under the anti-dumping framework through misclassification of products.”

“This mis-declaration while importing the goods which otherwise have been put under anti-dumping measures nullify the whole effort to protect the domestic industry from unfair trade practices,” the report added.

The Standing Committee named the steel industry as one of the major offenders in this regard, saying that there have been complaints from the domestic steel industry that Chinese non-alloy steel is being imported by being declared as alloy steel.

The committee noted that though nearly 75-80% of Chinese steel imports are covered under the anti-dumping duty, the import of such steel products have increased 8%.

“The committee feels that the government must take strong punitive measures so that the importers desist from such activities,” the report said. “The committee finds that while anti-dumping measures are being evaded on the one hand proving to be ineffective; on the other hand, there is a general reluctance on the part of the government to review the effectiveness of anti-dumping measures undertaken by it.”

The committee recommended that the Ministry of Steel, in consultation with the Directorate General Of Anti-Dumping And Allied Duties (now the Directorate General of Trade Remedies), look into the rationalisation of anti-dumping duties and make them realistic to “ward off any adverse consequences of dumping of Chinese steel goods in the country.”