India to slap anti-dumping duty on Vietnam DVDs

India is poised to impose an anti-dumping duty on recordable DVDs imported from Vietnam, citing predatory pricing.
India is poised to impose an anti-dumping duty on recordable DVDs imported from Vietnam, citing predatory pricing.

India's Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties made a final finding on July 2 that Vietnamese exporters were selling recordable discs, including DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, below normal prices, setting the stage for an imposition of duties.

The anti-dumping duty would be imposed three months after this final finding, according to Vietnam's Competition Administration Department.

The dumping margin for the products was set at 64.09 percent, subjecting the products to a tariff of 50.51 USD for each 1,000 units.

An anti-dumping investigation on recordable discs originating from Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia was initiated in May 2009 on the recommendation of India's Optical Disc Manufactures Welfare Association.

The Indian watchdog group has decided to impose a duty of 35.92 USD per 1,000 units on Malaysian products and 25.98 USD per 1,000 units on Thai products.

Ritek Vietnam Co Ltd was the only Vietnamese exporter to collaborate with the authorities during the investigation process. The company will have to pay a duty of only 29.75 USD per 1,000 units.

"Only Vietnam has a separate tariff rate for an enterprise," said a representative of the Competition Administration Department, emphasising the importance of enterprises co-operating with authorities during these investigations. "This can help them get more favourable decision," she said.

While the duty would affect Vietnamese DVD exports to India, exporters could still restructure their export markets to minimise the impact, she added.

Vietnamese companies exported nearly 57.6 million discs to India in 2008-09, accounting for 12.1 percent of market share in the country.

This is the fourth anti-dumping case in which India has ruled against Vietnamese products since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007. India imposed anti-dumping tariffs on recordable compact discs (CD-R) and compact fluorescent lamps bulbs from Vietnam in 2008 and on cotton fabric in 2009./.

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