The Hindu Business Line : Dumping duty on imported speciality polyester film proposed

While the domestic industry pleaded for a fixed duty by way of anti-dumping in rupee terms in this case, the Authority held that imposition of anti-dumping duty on a reference price would be appropriate measure to neutralise the effects of dumped imports.

New Delhi , Aug. 13

THE Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on imported speciality polyester film from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Chinese Taipei.

The subject goods are otherwise known as sun/dust control polyester film or in market parlance as sun control films, sun films, solar films, solar control films, solar window films or window films.

The product is largely used for heat rejection/glare reduction, UV rejection and safety by applying on window glasses of automobiles as well as buildings.

The Authority, after receiving a written petition from Garware Polyesters Ltd, found in its investigation that the subject goods originating in or exported from the UAE and Chinese Taipei have been exported to India below its normal value, inflicting material injury to domestic units manufacturing the same product.

Accordingly, it recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty. While the domestic industry pleaded for a fixed duty by way of anti-dumping in rupee terms in this case, the Authority held that imposition of anti-dumping duty on a reference price would be appropriate measure to neutralise the effects of dumped imports.

Accordingly, it said that the definitive anti-dumping duty would be equal to the difference between the reference prices of $7.99 per kg in the case of firms exporting from the Chinese Taipei and the landed value of imports, while in the case of firms from the UAE, the final anti-dumping duty would be equal to the difference between the reference price of $8.17 per kg and the landed value of imports.

Furnishing details of its investigation, the Authority said that imports from the subject countries in comparison to the total demand in India had risen phenomenally from a level of one per cent in 1999-2000 to 26 per cent during the period of probe, whereas the share of domestic industry has declined from 93 per cent to 47 per cent.

The loss of market share of the domestic industry had directly been taken over by the dumped imports from the subject countries, it said.

The exporters argued that the goods produced by the domestic industry and by the foreign producers employed different production process.

But the Authority found that while none of the producers in the subject countries responded to it, it noted that the guiding principle was that the physical and chemical characteristics and usage of the products and their commercial and technical substitutability.

In this regard, the Authority found that though there was a variety of grades of the sun control films manufactured by the domestic industry and also imported from the subject countries, the basic material and the production process was analogous.

The Authority contended that there was a rise in the cost of production due to spurt in the raw material costs. Comparison of unit cost of production with unit selling price reveals that whereas both the cost of production and selling price increased over the year injury period, the increase in the selling price in the investigation period was less than the increase in the cost of production. The imports were thus preventing the domestic industry from effecting legitimate price increase to accommodate the escalation in cost of production, thereby, having a price suppression effect on the domestic industry's prices.