25-Mar-2022: Anti-Dumping Duty On Chinese Products
The Central Government (Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance), on the basis of the recommendations of the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Department of Commerce, has imposed anti-dumping duty for five years on five Chinese products recently namely certain flat rolled products of aluminium, sodium hydrosulphite, silicone sealant, hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32 and hydrofluorocarbon blends.
Apart from the above five products, the DGTR has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on other products originating in or exported from China PR in 2021-22. The details of these products are given below:
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Sl. No. |
Product |
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Methyl Acetoacetate |
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Phthalic Anhydride |
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Aluminium foil 80 micron and below |
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Seamless Tubes and Pipes |
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Certain aceto-acetyl derivatives |
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Axle for Trailers |
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Untreated Fumed Silica |
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Decor Paper |
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Axle for Trailers |
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Porcelain Vitrified Tiles |
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Copper and Alloy FRP |
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Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) |
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Rubber Chemical PX-13 |
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Polyester Spun Yarn |
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Melamine |
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Glass fibre |
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Vitamin-C |
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Cold Rolled Flat Product of alloy or Non-Alloy Steel |
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Hot Rolled Flat Products of alloy or Non-alloy Steel |
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Ceftriaxone Sodium Sterile |
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Persulphates |
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1,1,1, Tetrafluoroethene or 134a of all types |
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Colour coated / pre-painted flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel |
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Wire Rod |
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Elastomeric filament yarn |
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Amoxycillin Trihydrate |
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Plastic processing machinery |
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PU Leather |
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N, N′-Dicyclohexyl Carbodiimide (DCC) |
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Ceramic Tableware and kitchenware |
6-May-2019: Anti-dumping duty on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
The Finance Ministry has, on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
Saccharin is an artificial, or non-nutritive, sweetener. The substance was first discovered in 1878 by researcher Constantin Fahlberg. Its popularity increased during the 1960s and 1970s among dieters as a result of its ‘calorie-free’ status.
Saccharine is a compound most commonly used in sugar-substitute sweeteners. It is used to sweeten products such as drinks, candies, cookies, and medicines.
It is 200 to 700 times sweeter than sucrose, does not raise blood sugar levels and like all non-nutritive sweeteners has no calories. However, it does have a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is unstable when heated but does not react chemically with other food ingredients, which makes it good for storage.
Indonesia, until recently, accounted for a large chunk of India’s saccharine imports. However, imports from Indonesia have declined since then. In the April 2018 to February 2019 period, India imported only 20% of its total saccharine imports from Indonesia.
According to Government of India, saccharine has been exported to India from Indonesia below their normal values and consequently, the Indian domestic industry has suffered a lot.
8-Apr-2018: Anti-dumping Duty on Import of Phosphorus Pentoxide from China
The revenue department has imposed anti-dumping duty on import of Phosphorus Pentoxide from China to protect the domestic manufacturers from cheap shipments.
As per a notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), anti-dumping duty of USD 1,685.42 per metric tonne has been imposed on import of Phosphorus Pentoxide from China for 5 years.
Phosphorus Pentoxide is used as a powerful desiccant and dehydrating agent and is a useful building block and reagent in the chemical industry.
Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) had carried out a probe into the imports of the chemical to ascertain if the shipments were causing injury to the domestic manufacturer of the chemical. The probe was aimed to determine the "existence, degree and effect" of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which, if levied would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.
After the investigation, the DGAD concluded that the chemical was being exported to India below the normal value and domestic industry suffered material injury on account of dumped imports. Based on the recommendation of the DGAD, the revenue department imposed the levy on the import of the chemical from China.
Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.
Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.
9-Aug-2017: Anti-dumping duty imposed on 93 products from China
Anti-dumping duty is in force on 93 products including chemicals and machinery items imported from China. The other Chinese products on which India has imposed this duty include steel and other metals, fibres and yarn, rubber or plastic, electric and electronics and consumer goods.
In addition, 40 cases concerning imports from China have been initiated by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties.
Countries impose anti-dumping duties to guard domestic industry from surge in below-cost imports. These steps are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict import or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.
India’s exports to China include iron ore, cotton yarn, petroleum products, copper and chemicals, while imports include telecom instruments, electronic components, computer hardware, industrial machinery and chemicals.
15-May-2017: Anti-dumping duty imposed on clear float glass imports from Iran
The Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on ‘clear float glass’ imports from Iran. The definitive anti-dumping duty, imposed by the Revenue Department and which will be valid for five years, ranged from ‘nil’ to $55.59 per tonne, depending on the producer and exporter.
Clear float glass, which is a superior quality of glass, is used in the construction, refrigeration, mirror and solar energy industries.
25-Jan-2021: Green tax to be imposed on older vehicles soon, to clean up the environment by phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles
The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Sh. Nitin Gadkari has approved a proposal to levy a “Green Tax” on old vehicles which are polluting the environment. The proposal will now go to the states for consultation before it is formally notified. The main principles to be followed while levying the Green Tax are :
- Transport vehicles older than 8 years could be charged Green Tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate, at the rate of 10 to 25 % of road tax;
- Personal vehicles to be charged Green Tax at the time of renewal of Registration Certification after 15 years;
- Public transport vehicles, such as city buses, to be charged lower Green tax;
- Higher Green tax (50% of Road Tax) for vehicles being registered in highly polluted cities
- Differential tax, depending on fuel (petrol/diesel) and type of vehicle;
- Vehicles like strong hybrids, electric vehicles and alternate fuels like CNG, ethanol, LPG etc. to be exempted;
- Vehicles used in farming, such as tractor, harvester, tiller etc. to be exempted;
- Revenue collected from the Green Tax to be kept in a separate account and used for tackling pollution, and for States to set up state of-art facilities for emission monitoring.
The benefits of the “Green Tax” could be :
- To dissuade people from using vehicles which damage the environment
- To motivate people to switch to newer, less polluting vehicles
- Green tax will reduce the pollution level, and make the polluter pay for pollution.
The Minister also approved the policy of deregistration and scrapping of vehicles owned by Government department and PSU, which are above 15 years in age. It is to be notified, and will come into effect from 1st April, 2022.
It is estimated that commercial vehicles, which constitute about 5% of the total vehicle fleet , contribute about 65-70% of total vehicular pollution. The older fleet, typically manufactured before the year 2000 constitute less than 1 % of the total fleet but contributes around 15% of total vehicular pollution. These older vehicles pollute 10-25 times more than modern vehicles.
13-Aug-2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches platform for “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest”
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched a platform for “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest” today through video conferencing.
Speaking on the occasion he said that the process of Structural Reforms in the country has reached new heights today. The Prime Minister said the platform of “Transparent Taxation - Honouring the Honest, has been launched to meet the requirements of the 21st century taxation system. He elaborated that the platform has major reforms like Faceless Assessment, Faceless Appeal and Taxpayers Charter.
He said that Faceless Assessment and Taxpayers Charter have come into force from today while the facility of faceless appeal will be available for citizens across the country from 25th September i.e. Deen Dayal Upadhyay's birth anniversary. The new platform apart from being faceless is also aimed at boosting the confidence of the taxpayer and making him/her fearless.
The PM said that the focus of the Government in the last six years has been “Banking the Unbanked, Securing the Unsecured and Funding the Unfunded” and that the platform of “Honouring the Honest” is in the similar direction.
The Prime Minister praised the role of honest taxpayers in nation building and said that making the lives of such taxpayers easy is the responsibility of the government. “When the life of an honest taxpayer of the country becomes easy, he moves forward and develops, then the country also develops and leaps forward,” PM added.
The Prime Minister said the new facilities launched today are a part of the Government’s resolve to provide maximum governance with minimum government. He said that every rule, law and policy are made with an emphasis of them being people centric, public friendly rather than power centric. He said that the use of the new governance model is yielding good results.
The Prime Minister said that an atmosphere is being created where primacy is being given to duty to execute all works. This is the result not because of force and fear of punishment but because of an understanding of the holistic approach that is being adopted. He said the reforms being launched by the Government are not in piecemeal but those aimed at delivering results with holistic perspective.
The Prime Minister said the country’s tax structure needed fundamental reforms as the earlier tax structure was developed from the one created during pre-independent times. Even the several changes made during the post-independent times did not alter its fundamental character, he said.
The Prime Minister said that the complexity of the earlier system made it difficult to conform.
He said that simplified laws and procedures make it easy to comply. One such example is the GST, he said, which replaced dozens of taxes.
The Prime Minister said that the latest laws reduced the legal burden in the tax system where now the limit of filing cases in the High Court has been fixed at up to 1 crore rupees and up to 2 crores for filing in the Supreme Court. Initiatives like the 'Vivaad Se Vishwas' Scheme pave the way for most of the cases to be settled out of court.
Prime Minister said that the tax slabs have also been rationalised as a part of the ongoing reforms where there is zero tax upto an income of 5 lakh rupees, while the tax rate has reduced in the remaining slabs too. He said India is one of the countries with lowest Corporate Tax in the World.
The PM said the ongoing reforms aim at making the tax system Seamless, Painless, Faceless. He said the Seamless system works to resolve the problems of a taxpayer instead of entangling him further. By being Painless he said, everything from technology to rules should be simple. Referring to the Faceless system he said there is no need for a direct contact between the Taxpayer and the Income Tax Officer in all matters of scrutiny, notice, survey or assessment.
Referring to the launch of Taxpayers Charter, the Prime Minister said that it is a significant step where the taxpayer is now assured of fair, courteous and rational behavior. He said the charter takes care of maintaining the dignity and sensitivity of the taxpayer and that is based on a trust factor and that the assessee cannot be merely doubted without a basis.
Referring to the reduction of the scrutiny of the cases by at least four times in the last six years from 0.94% in 2012-13 to 0.26% in 2018-19, Prime Minister said this itself is a reflection of the trust that the Government is laying on the returnees. He said in the last 6 years, India has seen a new model of governance evolving in tax administration. Amidst all these efforts, he said the number of people filing income tax returns has increased by about 2.5 crores in the last 6-7 years.
The Prime Minister however said that it can also not be denied that only 1.5 Crore people pay the taxes in a country of 130 crores. Shri Modi urged people to introspect themselves and come forward to pay the taxes due.
The Prime Minister said this would help in the making of a Self - Reliant India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat.