It is a matter of fact that India was a founding member of GATT 1947 and is also a founding member of WTO that came into existence on 1st January, 1995. Under the WTO regime the GATT 1994 has been recognized as one of the important agreements on trade in goods which is more or less similar to GATT 1947 with few necessary amendments. WTO Member States concluded other separate agreements also which were the part of GATT 1947. ‘Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994’, commonly known as the ‘Agreement on Anti-Dumping’ is one such agreement.
India had committed to implement this agreement into its domestic law as part of a single undertaking. Sections 9A, 9B and 9C of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 as amended in 1995 and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995 framed there under, form the legal basis for anti-dumping investigations and for the levy of anti-dumping duties. These laws are based on the Agreement on Anti-Dumping which is in pursuance of Article VI of GATT 1994.
Section 9A (1) says that where any article is exported from any country or territory to India at less than its normal value, then, upon the importation of such article into India, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, impose an anti-dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to such article.
Further it states that margin of dumping is the difference between the product’s export price and its normal value. The normal value is the comparable price at which the goods under complaint are sold, in the ordinary course of trade, in the domestic market of the exporting country or territory. The export price of goods imported into India is the price paid or payable for the goods by the first independent buyer.
Paragraph 2.1 of Article 2 of the Agreement on Anti-dumping says, “For the purpose of this Agreement, a product is to be considered as being dumped, i.e. introduced into the commerce of another country at less than its normal value, if the export price of the product exported from one country to another is less than the comparable price, in the ordinary course of trade, for the like product when destined for consumption in the exporting country.”
In both the definitions following are the essential factors:
- Export price less than Normal Value
- Like Product
- Material Injury to the Domestic Industry or Producers
- Dumping Margin
If all the above factors exist then it is directly a case of dumping. And against that dumping, the Government of India can impose or levy anti-dumping duties to mitigate the material injury but to the extent of dumping margin or injury margin.
To be continued...
For an interpretation of the Anti-Dumping Agreement, kindly visit: WTO's website
By: Manish Sharma, LL.M. (International Trade and Business Laws), NALSAR.
