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Dumping duty on Chinese dry batteries

G. Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, July 14

THE Designated Authority in the Ministry of Commerce has recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on Chinese dry batteries, more specifically primary pencil cell and batteries especially R (AA) both in paper and metal (both heavy duty and s uper heavy duty) jacketed form.

In its final findings notified on July 13 and to be gazetted, the Authority held that there is no significant difference in the pencil batteries being produced by India and exported from China. The dry cell batteries are used in tape recorders, toys, tor ches and other electronic and electrical goods imported from China.

After its final probe, the Authority found that dry cell batteries of Chinese origin were exported to India below its normal value and the domestic industry had suffered material injury which is being threatened with ``further injury''.

Accordingly, the Authority recommended imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on all imports of dry cell batteries originating in or exported from China.

The anti-dumping duty should be the difference between $74.75 per 1,000 pieces of dry batteries and landed value of import per 1,000 pieces for all exporters/manufacturers from China.

It might be recalled that following a deluge of complaints from domestic manufacturers of dry cell batteries, sport shoes and toys, the Directorate of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) initiated dumping investigations into these items towards the pen ultimate month of calendar year 2000 and came out with a preliminary findings on January 24, 2001. The period of investigation (PoI) was April 1, 2000 to September 30, 2000.

In less than six months the Authority has come out with its final findings too on the dry cell batteries from China wherein it stated that Association of Indian Dry Cell Manufacturers are representing the interests of the various producers. The Authority , however, considered Eveready Industries Ltd, Calcutta, BPL Soft Energy System Ltd, Bangalore, Matsushita Lakhanpal Battery India Ltd, Vadodara and Indo National Ltd, Chennai as domestic industry for the purpose of investigation.

As against the retail selling prices of domestic industry, the Chinese batteries were being sold in retail market at a price of roughly Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 per piece, ``evidencing significant price undercutting''.

Besides, imports from China too shot up from 5.37 million pieces in 1997-98 to 36.60 million pieces in 1998-99 to 46.80 million pieces during the PoI with the share of China in demand progressively escalating from 0.97 per cent in 1997-98 to 4.89 per cen t in 1998-99 to 12.93 per cent in the PoI.

On dumping margin, the Authority said that since none of the exporters from China had responded to the Authority's plea for information, it has not determined dumping margin for individual exporters. However, it took into account the best information ava ilable for the purpose of fair comparison between the normal value and the export price and compared weighted average normal value with weighted average export price. The comparison reveals dumping margin of 693 per cent of net export price.

``The substantial and steady increase in import of subject goods from China at abysmally low price which is not sufficient even to recover the cost of raw material of the domestic industry resulting in severe price undercutting clearly establishes the ca usal link between the injury already suffered as well as threat of injury being faced by the domestic industry with the phenomena of dumping of subject goods from China,'' the Authority contended.