India probing alleged dumping of Malaysian calculators

India has initiated a probe into alleged dumping of electronic calculators from Malaysia following a complaint from the domestic industry.

The Commerce Ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has found sufficient evidence of dumping of the product from Malaysia and injury to the domestic industry to start the probe.

"The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry...to determine the existence, degree, and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry," the DGTR said in a notification.

While DGTR recommends the duty, the finance ministry will take the final call to impose the same.

The anti-dumping duty, if imposed, would help guard domestic players against cheap imports of the product.

The period of investigation is 2018-19. However, the data of 2015-18 would also be looked into by the directorate to understand the impact of imports.

Ajanta LLP had filed the application for imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports from Malaysia.

Malaysia is a key trading partner of India in the Southeast Asian region. The bilateral trade between the countries increased to USD 17.25 billion in 2018-19 from USD 14.71 billion in 2017-18.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR, in India.

In its probe, the directorate has to conclude whether the imported products are impacting domestic industries.

The imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.