A rubber industry body said that the Indian government is looking into the demand for imposing anti-dumping duty on import of Chinese tyres.
At the National Rubber Conference organisedby All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA), Rubber Board Chairman A Jayathilak said that the local rubber MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sector is hurt by the rush of cheap imports from China. Tariff concessions offered under Free Trade Agreements could lead to a surge in imports. Also, dumping of finished rubber products can’t be ruled out which is causing distress especially for MSME rubber sector.
On the sidelines of the conference, Jayathilak also said the tyre industry has filed a petition before the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD) for imposing an anti-dumping duty on import of Chinese tyres and it is being examined.
India’s import of truck and bus radial tyre (TBR) jumped by 64% to 1.28 million units in 2015-2016 from 780,000 units in the previous fiscal.
Citing customs data, the domestic tyre manufacturers body Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) had said that in the last two years, import of TBR has gone up by 2.5 times. ATMA has called for anti-dumping measures on import from China as it accounted for a major chunk.
The Chairman asked the industry to participate actively in the discussions on anti-dumping and safeguard measures organised by the government.
Jayathilak said that the Rubber Board places equal importance on the development of both natural rubber production and consumption interests. AIRIA President Mohinder Gupta said the rubber industry fits in perfectly with the government’s initiatives of Make in India. He also said rubber units spread across the country manufacture around 35,000 different rubber products which find usage in auto, defence, healthcare, agriculture and various other sectors.
Source: India Today