China on Wednesday said that imports from India of Meta Phenoxy Benzaldehyde, which is used in manufacturing various chemical products, constituted dumping actions that were detrimental to the industry and said it would take necessary steps to safeguard the interests of domestic manufacturers.
In its preliminary ruling, the Ministry of Commerce said the imports have caused substantial damage to the domestic industry and would be countered with temporary anti-dumping measures.
The anti-dumping investigation was initiated on the back of a complaint from Weifang Runnong Chemical Co Ltd in May 2017, wherein it claimed that MPBD exported from India was being sold in China at a price much lower than the prevailing domestic rate.
Under the new ruling, starting from Thursday, MPBD importers from India would need to furnish relevant cash deposits to the Customs authorities and will be subject to dumping charges of between 36.2 percent and 56.9 percent, determined by this ruling for each company when importing MPBD.
"China has enhanced its trade policy measures to protect its businesses from growing trade protectionism across the world," said Li Guanghui, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.
The ministry urged India last year to stop abusing trade remedy measures and said it hoped the two countries could settle trade disputes through consultation, after India launched an anti-dumping investigation into photovoltaic cells and units imported from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and Malaysia on July 21, 2017.
India launched 212 investigations against Chinese products between 1994 and August 2017. More than 13 investigations were initiated in 2017 alone, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry also announced last week that China will investigate imports of sorghum－a type of grain feedstock－from the United States, and it will review anti-dumping duties levied on potato starch imported from the European Union, which are due to expire.
Xue Rongjiu, deputy director of the Beijing-based China Society for WTO Studies, said India has been one of the countries that "frequently resorts to trade remedy measures" to protect its local industries.
In accordance with China's regulation on anti-dumping, the Ministry of Commerce investigated the related situation from the interested parties by conducting questionnaires, sampling, hearings and other activities.
