India has started a probe into dumping of rubber by Korea, Russia, South Africa, Iran and Singapore following a complaint from Reliance Industries.
The move is aimed at protecting domestic players in the sector against cheap imports.
The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), an arm of the Commerce Ministry, has begun investigating imports of ‘polybutadiene rubber’ from these regions.
The period of investigation covers April 2015 and March 2016.
The product is mainly used in used in the manufacture of tyres. It is also used to manufacture golf balls, various elastic objects and to coat or encapsulate electronic assemblies, offering high electrical resistivity.
Reliance Industries Ltd has filed an application before the authority for initiation of anti dumping investigation.
What is Dumping:
Countries start anti-dumping probes to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.
As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of WTO.
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.
India has already imposed an anti-dumping duty on several products, to tackle cheap imports from countries, including China.