New Delhi: India’s trade remedies authority, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), has begun an anti-circumvention investigation into imports of hydraulic rock breakers and related alloy steel tools from Malaysia, amid suspicion that goods subject to anti-dumping duty are being routed through that country to avoid it, according to a social media post by journalist Ambarish Pandey on Friday, November 6.
Anti-dumping duty is already in force on hydraulic rock breakers and alloy steel tools from China and South Korea. The post says DGTR found initial signs of irregularities in its probe and has initiated the anti-circumvention investigation into suspected imports via Malaysia.
The government has made provisional assessment mandatory for the related products arriving from Malaysia, the post says. Importers will have to furnish a guarantee to the customs department against any anti-dumping duty that may become payable.
Along with ready-made rock breakers, seven major parts of rock breakers also fall within the scope of the investigation. No new duty has been imposed yet, the post says; the steps are meant to secure recovery of any duty that may be levied once the investigation is complete.
Background: DGTR had earlier recommended anti-dumping duty on hydraulic rock breakers from China and South Korea for five years, with rates ranging from 4.55 to 162.5 per cent of CIF value, according to trade reports. Separately, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence was reported to have uncovered a scheme in which Chinese-origin rock breakers were routed through Malaysia to avoid the duty. Delhi News Live could not locate the official notification on the DGTR website at the time of writing, and the details above are as stated in the post.
