India may soon add yet another item— clear float glass (CFG) — to the list of Bangladeshi exports facing anti-dumping duty (ADD).
CFG, exported by Bangladesh, may face ADD for five years, officials said.
Indian local producers have requested the director general of trade remedies (DGTR) under commerce and industry ministry to impose ADD on CFG.
The DGTR recently told Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi that local industries accused Bangladeshi exporters of dumping CFG in India.
The high commission has thus requested the relevant ministry in Bangladesh to immediately take required steps to this end.
Any Indian imposition of ADD on clear float glass will deal a serious blow to Bangladesh’s overall export to India. Float glass has huge potential in the Indian market, it said.
Currently, India imposes anti-dumping duty on the Bangladeshi jute goods, hydrogen peroxide and fishing net.
According to a senior commerce ministry official, this will be a clear violation of the SAFTA rules if India initiates investigation into the allegation of dumping without consulting Bangladesh.
As per existing SAFTA rules, he said, before considering anti-dumping measures against least-developed contracting states, they have to be given the scope for consultation in this regard.
“The Contracting States shall give special regard to the situation of the Least Developed Contracting States when considering the application of anti-dumping and/or countervailing measures,” according to article 11(A) of the rules.
“In this regard, the Contracting States shall provide an opportunity to Least Developed Contracting States for consultations. The Contracting States shall, to the extent practical, favourably consider accepting price undertakings offered by exporters from Least Developed Contracting States.”
In March, five memoranda of understanding were signed between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka to enhance cooperation, an official told the FE.
Of them, one was inked on the establishment of a framework of cooperation in the area of trade remedial measures between the two countries.
It has been mentioned not to make any move about measures/investigation on ADD without consultation with the respective country, the official added.
Md Hafizur Rahman, additional commerce secretary and director general of WTO cell said they would sit with the stakeholders concerned to take necessary steps if India starts investigation in this regard.
“We’ll take necessary information and arguments from the exporters concerned in the meeting,” he added.
Glass shipments to Indian market have been rising in recent years.
Bangladesh exported glass sheets worth over $0.7 million to India in fiscal year (FY) 2019-20.
The volume of exports of such products has increased remarkably in FY 2020-21.
Its exports to the market grew by 357 per cent to $3.39 million in 11 months of the current fiscal year than that of the last fiscal year.
Currently, three companies are exporting clear float glass to India.
CFG is generally used in window, refrigeration, construction, automobiles, mirror and solar energy industries.
An anti-dumping duty is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value, according to investopedia.com.
The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field between the domestic producers and foreign exporters/producers.
Earlier, India slapped anti-dumping duty on Bangladesh’s jute yarn, hessian and bags back in January 2017 ranging from $19 and $352 a tonne.
A similar duty was imposed on the exports of hydrogen peroxide to India in the range between $27.81 and $91.47 per tonne in April 2017.
Hydrogen peroxide is a textile chemical, which is being produced in Bangladesh.
One year later, India put anti-dumping duty at $2.69 per kilogram on the shipment of fishing net from Bangladesh.
Source : The Financial Express
