BD to seek Indian review of anti-dumping duty on jute

Bangladesh will negotiate with India for a review of the latter's decision to impose anti-dumping duty on jute and jute goods.
The Indian government imposed the duty on Thursday last on jute products being exported from Bangladesh and Nepal.
However, Bangladesh is yet to be informed about the duty by India formally. It will take steps once it is informed by the neighbouring country, officials said.   
The business community expressed their concern on Saturday over India's decision to impose anti-dumping duty on jute and jute goods exported from Bangladesh. These items now enjoy duty-free access to India under the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
The Jute Spinners' Association (JSA) fears many jute spinning mills may face closure due to the Indian decision.
It said if the duty comes into effect, then the jute and jute goods will lose their competitiveness.
The association called upon the government to discuss the issue with India soon for the sake of the country's jute industry.  
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) expressed on Saturday its fears that anti-dumping duties (ADDs) would widen Bangladesh's trade gap with India.
In a statement on the day, it said that the Ministry of Finance of the government of India had imposed anti-dumping duty ranging from US $ 8 to $ 350 per tonne, originating in Bangladesh and Nepal based on the investigation outcome though three is no clear finding of injury caused by our (Bangladesh) exported price and volume on Indian local finished producers.
Bangladesh usually exports processed jute goods such as yarn, twine, sacks and bags worth around $ 700 million to many world destination of which Indian market accounts for 20 per cent equivalent to eight percent of entire Indian local market share and this insignificant percentage can't anyway dump their local jute market. Even though, the average industry injury margin assessed by DGAD was 25 per cent less than required, it added.  
It urged the government to move seriously and take up the issue with India immediately.
"This proposed anti dumping imposition could result adverse multiplier impacts on our local growers, producers, exporters and spur further trade imbalance of Bangladesh with India," the statement mentioned.
"We will take initiatives after being informed formally by India. We will raise and discuss/ negotiate the issue with the Indian government for a review of their decision," senior secretary of the ministry of commerce (MoC) Hedayetullah Al Mamoon told the FE.
He said the MoC is yet to receive a letter from India through the ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA).  
The Indian government considered that imports of jute and jute goods from Bangladesh were undercutting prices of their domestic industry.
The duty has been imposed to the extent of US $ 6.30 to $351.72 per tonne on all forms and specifications of jute yarn/twine, jute sacking bags and hessian fabric for five years.
The anti-dumping duty will be effective for five years beginning from the date of publication of a notification.
The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) had accused Bangladeshi exporters of selling jute products at prices lower than those in India's domestic market.
Following the allegations by the IJMA, the   Indian anti-dumping authority Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), which is under India's commerce ministry started its investigation into the matter.
Earlier, a team of DGAD had visited some factories in Bangladesh. They collected data and export prices for India and sales prices in their domestic market.
The average prices of widely exported 28-carded jute yarn vary between $800 and $850 a tonne.
The country's jute sector involves around four million farmers and over 0.1 million workers.  
Bangladesh exports raw jute, jute goods and jute yarn to India. Around 1,00,00 tonnes of jute yarn are being shipped to India annually.
Jute yarn and twine account for 65 per cent of the sector's annual export receipts of over $850 million. Around 90 per cent of jute goods are shipped abroad, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has clear guidelines and rules on anti-dumping duties in response to unfair trade practices.
Generally, two types of 'unfair' trade practices, which distort conditions of competition, are recognised by the WTO.
Either conditions of competition may be unfair if the exported goods benefit from subsidy, or distorted if the exported goods are dumped in foreign country.
The Agreement on Anti-Dumping (AAD) clearly lays down strict criteria for determining whether any export from second country is considered dumping to the first country.
According to the definition, 'a product is to be considered as dumped if the export price is less than the price charged for the like product is sold for consumption in the exporting country.' Again, it is not clear as there are some procedures and tools to determine dumping.
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