"They (Chinese delegation) requested at a meeting with
the Directorate General (Safeguards) that there could be a
forum for consultation between Chinese suppliers and Indian
industry to resolve the issue of huge influx of imports,"
a source said.
Leading a four-member Chinese delegation,
Director-General (Safeguards) Xiaoyan Zhou met his Indian
counterpart S S Rana on Friday on safeguard duties.
India has proposed 31 percent safeguard duties on
imports of soda ash from China, 21 percent on aluminium flat
rolled products and 35 percent aluminium foil.
The Directorate General (Safeguards) is also
investigating whether there is a case of imposing such a duty
on imports of nylon tyres from China.
The WTO provides for safeguard duties over and above the
normal rate of customs duty to protect the interests of
domestic industry in the case of huge imports.
Director-General (Safeguards) S S Rana refused to comment
on the Chinese request, but said safeguard duties on certain
Chinese imports have only been proposed.
"We have proposed provisional (safeguard) duty at the
moment. The decision to accept them would be taken by the
Finance Ministry," Rana said here.
He said some representatives of Indian industry which
use these products as inputs have also voiced opposition
against the safeguards duty. These include glass and detergent
units, which use soda ash as raw material.
Rana said there is always scope for consultation over
safeguard duties. The D-G (Safeguards) will hold an open
hearing on March 23, where representatives from China are also
expected to come.
The import of soda ash rose to 45,771 million tonnes (mt)
in 2007-08 from 44,892 a year before. It jumped to 65,829 mt
in the first nine months of this fiscal.
The import of aluminium flat-rolled products increased to
26,617 mt during 2007-08 from 16,155 mt a year before. It
stood at 22,287 mt in the first nine months of this fiscal.
The import of aluminium foils rose to 23,925 mt in
2007-08 from 10,777 mt a year before. It stood
at 27,534 mt in the first nine months of this fiscal.
A delegation led by Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce
Zhong Shan met Revenue Secretary P V Bhide on Friday over the
issue of safeguard duties on Chinese imports.
Bureau Report