India has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,193 a unit on imports of a particular variety of weaving machine to guard domestic industry from cheap Chinese and Israeli shipments.

The restrictive duty on import of “Circular Weaving Machines having six or more shuttles for weaving PP/HDPE fabric of width exceeding 30 cm” would be imposed for a period of five years, the Department of Revenue said.

The circular woven fabrics made by such machines are widely used in packaging applications, such as packaging of cement, fertilisers and chemicals.

“The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be levied for a period of five years from the date of imposition of the provisional duty, that is, April 12, 2010, for the imports of goods originating in or exported from, China and Israel...,” the department said.

The Directorate-General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), a nodal agency under the Commerce Ministry, had recommended the imposition of the duty after an investigation.

Anti-dumping duty is recommended by the Commerce Ministry, while the Finance Ministry imposes the same.

The DGAD concluded in its probe that the domestic industry had suffered a material injury on account of dumped imports of the machine from the two nations.

Unlike safeguard duties, which are levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duties vary from product to product and from country to country.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime. Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to domestic players. It is not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in the cost of products.

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