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The Commerce Ministry, which handles anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties, now also wants safeguards under its domain.
With increased protectionism worldwide hitting India’s exports, the Ministry has proposed that all trade remedy measures – anti-dumping duties, countervailing duties and safeguards – should be handled by single body for more effective use of the tools.
What the Commerce Ministry has in mind is a body similar to the US International Trade Commission which handles all trade remedy measures used by the country.
“The Commerce Secretary has recently written to the Revenue Secretary to discuss the matter,” a government official told BusinessLine .
At present, the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD), under the Commerce Ministry, examines cases related to imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties while the Directorate General of Safeguards, under the Department of Revenue, examines cases related to imposition of safeguard duties.
On the other hand, the USITC has all trade lawyers and the number-crunchers working for it. “The experts sit under one roof and the body decides which tool is appropriate in a particular set of circumstances,” the official said.
While anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguards are all penal duties imposed on imports when there is an increase in inflow of particular goods, they are all guided by separate set of rules determined by the World Trade Organisation.
India has been a frequent user of anti-dumping against cheap imports from countries including China and the US, but it is now exploring the option of using countervailing duties as well. The DGAD recently held a workshop with the industry to educate them on how countervailing duties can be used.
“We need to be in constant dialogue with the industry to get inputs from them on the best way to protect their items against cheap imports. The DGAD is already doing that. If all trade remedy measures are under one body, the industry will not have to run from one department to the other to determine which measure suits it best,” the official said.
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