Union Government imposes Anti-dumping duty on graphite electrodes imports

Union Ministry of Finance has imposed an anti-dumping duty on imports of graphite electrodes used in steel plants for five years. The imposed duty ranges between 278.19 and 922.03 per tonne.
The decision was taken following the recommendations of the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping Duty (DGAD).
Earlier, DGAD had initiated and conducted investigation into dumping, on complaints of domestic manufacturers- HEG and Graphite India
With this move, government aims to protect the domestic industry from below-cost shipments of graphite electrodes.
It should be noted that the graphite electrodes are used in melting of steel.

What is Anti-Dumping Duty?

• It is duty imposed by government on imported products which have prices less than their normal values or domestic price.
• Usually countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports.
• Anti-Dumping Duty is imposed under the multilateral WTO regime and vary from product to product and from country to country.
• In India, anti-dumping duty is recommended by the Union Ministry of Commerce, while the Union Finance Ministry imposes it.