Higher Anti-Dumping Duties Recommended in India

An Indian government panel has recommended increasing the anti-dumping duty imposed on truck tyres from US$99 to $135. Originally implemented last October, the duty is intended to curb the large numbers of low-priced Chinese imports flooding into India. At present tyre imports from China are running at 68,000 units a month, a five-fold increase in the levels recorded three years ago.

The difference in price between Indian tyres and their Chinese equivalents is approximately 25 to 35 per cent despite the Chinese government’s removal of its 5 per cent tyre export subsidy and increased freight charges for exports to India. Such a gulf in prices means, according to MRF executive director of marketing Philip Eapen, that the increase in duty will make little difference apart from making Chinese imports a “little more unattractive.”