India has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of electronic calculators from Malaysia for five years with a view to guard domestic players from cheap imports from that country.

After conducting a probe, the commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had recommended anti-dumping duty on electronic calculators from Malaysia.

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“The anti-dumping duty imposed (USD 0.92 per piece)…shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, amended or superseded earlier),” the department of revenue has said in a notification.

In its findings of the probe, the DGTR had concluded that the product has been exported to India from Malaysia below its associated normal value, which is amounting to dumping and the domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumping.

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

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.

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

India and Malaysia are members of this Geneva-based multi-lateral body.

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.