India considers imposing ADD on imports of O-Acid and Sewing Machine Needles from China

The Dollar Business Bureau

The DGAD in its latest notification no's- File No.14/31/2016-DGAD & F.No.15/02/2016-DGAD, dated May 23, 2017, reveals that the preliminary findings into the investigation concerning the dumping of Ofloxacin Acid and Sewing machine needles originating in or exported from China PR have been found to be relevant.

Ofloxacin Acid also called O-Acid is an intermediate chemical for manufacture of Ofloxacin, which is a synthetic chemotherapeutic antibiotic of the fluoroquinolone drug class considered to be a second-generation fluoroquinolone, generally used to treat a variety of illnesses including bronchitis, pneumonia, and infections of the skin, bladder, urinary tract, reproductive organs, and prostate, as well as used in the making of generic drug equivalents for oral and intravenous administration. This drug is labelled on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines as the most important medications needed in the basic health system.

According to the petitioner M/s. Aarti Drugs Ltd., Mumbai, the Chinese producers intensified dumping as soon as the Indian producer commenced commercial production. The raw material costs were higher than the price offered by the Chinese producer, forcing the Indian producer to import volumes for commercial production from 0 MT to 126 MT in 2015-16 and therefrom to 220 MT till the commencement of the investigation. India imported 583 MT of O-Acid from China alone in 2015-16.

In order to address injury being suffered by the domestic industry during investigation the DGAD recommends imposing an anti-dumping duty amount ranging between $4.94 to $8.79 per kg of O-acid or Ofloxacin Acid on the Chinese exporters.

On the same note the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties after receiving a petition from M/s Altek Beissel Ltd, has initiated a sunset review into the imports of sewing machine needles, used to sew garments, used in embroidery and in sewing leather goods from China. The dumping margin has been seen to be 950-1000%.

At any point of time, in India there are at least a billion needles in stock inside the country because various dealers around the world keep importing containers full of needles. China does not have a system of sole distributor and sells directly as well as through dealers. Therefore, taking into consideration the injury caused to the domestic producers, the Authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty of Rs 1,54,732 for lakh pieces of sewing machine needles on the Chinese exporters.