Anti-dumping duty on sorbitol: NTC terminates the ''chain circumstances review''

The National Tariff Commission (NTC) has terminated the ''chain circumstances review'' of anti-dumping duty on import of sorbitol from Indonesia. Sources told Business Recorder on Tuesday that the Commission is also reviewing whether to carry on with anti-dumping duty on the import of sorbitol, following a request from the domestic manufacturers.
According to details, an Indonesian company had approached the NTC for conducting ''chain circumstances review'' of the anti-dumping duty on the import of sorbitol. Under this review, the company wanted to revise the dumping margins in view of changed circumstances of business. The foreign exporter wanted reduction, or abolition, of the duty based on changes in business environment and other factors.
The NTC sought some basic information from the Indonesian company. However, the Indonesian exporter was unable to provide the requisite information to the Commission. There was no outcome of the review, which was conducted on the request of the applicant.
Therefore, the ''chain circumstances review'' ended due to non-availability of information. Sources said that five years have passed from levy of the anti-dumping duty on the import of sorbitol.
Now, the domestic industry has again approached the Commission for extending the period of duty for another five years. The review to further levy of anti-dumping duty is necessary in cases where five years have lapsed and the local industry has again approached the commission to re-examine their case.
The Commission initiated review process 90 days before the expiry of 5-year deadline. The anti-dumping reviews are full-time investigation to ascertain the actual impact of levy on any item after five years. In case of sorbital, the local industry has apprehended that if the anti-dumping duty is being abolished, it would result in dumping of the product in Pakistan.
TILES FROM CHINA: Sources said that a ''new shipper (exporter) review'' has been started on the import of tiles from China. Presently, anti-dumping duty is applicable on all kinds of tiles from China. A new exporter of tiles from China has approached the Commission for reviewing the duty on the import of this product.
The new exporter has taken the plea that they are new exporter of tiles to Pakistan and wanted to workout actual anti-dumping margins on the import of the product. The NTC would workout whether the duty should be revised or not taking into account all factors under the law.
Sources added that the anti-dumping duty on the import of tin plates from South Africa has already been extended for another period of five years. Under the anti-dumping laws, if preliminary duty is more than the final duty, the gap has to be refunded to the exporter. Contrary to this, if preliminary duty is less than the final duty, the commission did not charge more from the importer.
The dumping occurs if a company sells a product at a lower price in an export market than its domestic market. Similarly, subsidy refers to a financial contribution given by a government to its industry which confers additional benefit to the recipient. Dumping or subsidy is not harmful and before an action for antidumping or countervailing can be brought, it needs to be established that dumping or subsidy has caused injury the domestic producers in the importing country. In other words, there must be a causal link between dumping and injury, simple assertions unsubstantiated by relevant evidence cannot be considered sufficient to meet these requirements.
These investigations, to counter unfair trade, are conducted by the Commission according to procedure laid down in the respective law. A distinguishing feature of these investigations is transparency and the rule-based system, given the fact that the entire record of investigation is available to all interested parties. All exporters have the right to request even for the confidential calculation pertaining to them used in calculation of their individual dumping margin. The due process laid down in the laws requires the Commission to provide ample opportunity to all interested parties, conduct hearing and meetings, verify information submitted by interested parties and other procedural requirements in order to conduct a fair and transparent investigation. Respective laws have outlined timelines for each step of investigation, which result in timely completion of investigations. It is pertinent to mention that the commission has always observed the time limits available in the law for completion of investigation.