Anti-Dumping and India: A Temporal and Sectoral Perspective

Abstract

Dumping of products by different countries has become quite common in today's globalized world. Tariff cuts have been administered during various rounds of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, some countries started employing Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to trade. It is against this backdrop that Temporary Trade Barriers (TTBs) such as Anti-Dumping duties, Countervailing duties and safeguards assume prominence. This paper is a status report on Anti-Dumping and India on an ‘as-is' basis. It seeks to identify the Anti-Dumping initiations and measures taken by India as a reporting member and those taken by other countries when India is an exporting country. This temporal analysis is done for the period 1995-2015. Further, a sectoral analysis of Anti-Dumping initiations and measures for the period 1995-2014 is also dwelt upon. The data for the aforementioned variables has been sourced from the website of World Trade Organization (WTO). The year 1995 is co-terminus with the formation of WTO and the consequent amendment in Indian laws, to bring about conformity with provisions under the former. The top 5 countries/regions in descending order of initiations and measures are elucidated in this study. Also, the impact of sub-prime crisis, on the sectoral and total number of Anti-Dumping initiations and measures by Reporting Member/Exporting country, is explained in this article. Further, the proportion of Indian Anti-Dumping cases, when it was exporter and reporting member, with respect to initiations and measures, is elaborated. There is clear indication of the growing prominence of emerging economies, especially India,with respect to Anti-Dumping.