DGTR Recommends Anti-Dumping Duty On Optical Fibre Imported From China, Korea, Indonesia

The commerce ministry's arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, has recommended the imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of a certain type of optical fibre from China, Korea, and Indonesia to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments.

DGTR has recommended the duty after conducting an investigation on the dumped imports of "dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fibre" from these countries.

The product is mainly applied to high-data-rate, long-distance, and access network transportation.

Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics Pvt. Ltd., on behalf of the domestic industry, has asked for the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation on this product coming from these countries.

The applicant has alleged that material injury is being caused to the domestic industry due to the dumped imports and has requested the imposition of the duties.

The directorate, in its findings, has concluded that the domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumped imports.

The presence of dumped imports in the Indian market forced the applicant to sell the product at prices below its cost of sales, thereby incurring losses and adversely affecting the profitability parameters of the domestic industry, DGTR said in a notification.

'The authority recommends the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties... so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry,' it said.

The recommended duty was in the range of $122 per kfkm to $857.23 per kfkm.

The trading of this commodity occurs in fkm (fibre kilometres). 1 kfkm = 1,000 fkm.

While DGTR, which is under the commerce ministry, recommends the duty, the finance ministry takes the final decision to impose it within three months of the recommendation.

Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if their domestic industries have been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a countermeasure, they impose duties within the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organisation.

Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level playing field for the domestic industry. It is not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in the cost of products.