Govt extends anti-dumping duty on Chinese tiles by three months

The government has extended anti-dumping duty on imports of various types of porcelain and vitrified tiles from China to protect the domestic industry, primarily micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), by three months, two officials said.

In order to save the domestic tiles industry from cheaper imports from China, the government had imposed up to $1.87 per square meter anti-dumping duty during in 2016 for five years, which would have expired on March 28, 2021. The levy has been extended till June 28, 2021, two officials said requesting anonymity.

Acting on the domestic industry’s application to extend the protection period, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had last month recommended the finance ministry to extend the anti-dumping duty, one of the officials said. HT reported it on January 26. DGTR, previously known as the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties, is an arm of the ministry of commerce and industry and acts as a single-window agency providing a level playing field to the domestic industry against such unfair trade practices.

Accepting the DGTR recommendation, the finance ministry on Thursday extended anti-dumping duty till June 28, unless it is revoked, superseded or amended earlier, a second official said. It was suspected that the Chinese firms would again resort to dumping if the tariff measure was withdrawn, he said.

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Other economies are also facing similar dumping. The US authority had also taken action against massive dumping of Chinese tiles in their country in 2019. The US Commerce Department in September 2019 found large-scale imports of ceramic tile from China at unfairly subsidised rates and had imposed duties up to 220%.

“Over 240 domestic tiles manufacturers have alleged that the expiry of anti-dumping duty will lead to dumping of the products from China that will cause serious injury Indian MSMEs. They have asked the government to continue levying duties on imports of the goods either originating in China or exported from the country,” the second official said.

The Indian ceramic tiles industry is fragmented and cannot match the might of their Chinese counterparts, hence, the government has to come forward for the protection of Indian MSMEs, the officials said. The ceramic tiles industry in India has a large number of small-scale producers located in Morbi and Himmatnagar in Gujarat.

The Chinese industry has significant surplus capacities of these products and it relies on the Indian market, hence Indian authorities need to take measures to protect domestic units, the officials said.

Porcelain and vitrified tiles are used in construction of housing and infrastructure projects, including covering floors and walls of homes, restaurants, swimming pools, cinema halls, airports and railway stations.