India has reaped a benefit of Rs 88,000 crore through anti-dumping duties

India has gained an economic benefit to the tune of Rs 88,000 crore due to the judicious implementation of anti-dumping duties, according to reports released here on Friday by the Centre for Domestic Economy Policy Research and by the Centre for World Trade Studies.

Anti-dumping duties are levied to safeguard Indian manufacturers from predatory pricing by foreign exporters, who dump the imported products in India at prices that are lower than the true manufacturing cost.

The difference between the fair price based on true manufacturing price and the price at which the imports are sold in India is referred to as the injury faced by the domestic manufacturers.

By summing up the increase in domestic capacities in selected products, after the implementation of anti-dumping duties by the government on those products, the report has been able to arrive at the economic benefit arising out of the government's action, according to an official statement.

The government, through the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), conducts in-depth and transparent investigations into each case of dumping, to come out with the amount of duty to be levied on the imports, in order to provide a level playing field to the domestic players. When an industry suffers from trade injuries due to predatory pricing by foreign players, the production capacities in the domestic industries are underutilised, leading to economic losses. These losses also translate into job losses and a loss of taxes.

In the second report that was released on Friday, titled "Economic Impact of Dumped Imports on the Indian Economy", the data-backed analysis revealed that dumped imports on just a few select products resulted in an estimated economic loss of an enormous Rs 1,50,000 crores over four years. This figure reflects the economic cost of idle, underutilised or shutdown domestic manufacturing capacities that were impacted by the predatory pricing of imports.

The reports demonstrate the strengthening of the domestic industry due to the judicious and appropriate implementation of anti-dumping duties. It also delves into the pain faced by industries due to the elongated time for implementing the anti-dumping duties, during which time, the predatory imports exponentially go up as importers start hoarding, thereby increasing the injury to domestic producers.

This kind of injury to the industry has been seen in product after product, such as Insoluble Sulphur, PEDA, Pretilachor, KTB, STB, PX-13, TDQ, Sulphenamide accelerators and so on.

These findings underscore the critical role of trade remedies such as anti-dumping duties in preserving India's industrial base, protecting employment, and preventing long-term economic erosion.

As India pursues the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the judicious use of anti-dumping measures becomes essential not only to ensure fair competition but also to unlock the full potential of domestic manufacturing, the official statement added.