The local ceramics tiles manufacturers have demanded of the government to immediately impose anti-dumping duty on import of cheap ceramics tiles from China due to which country is losing over Rs2 billion annually. According to the manufacturers, the commercial importers are importing tiles and ceramics from China at prices even lower than in China's domestic market.
It is all being done by importers due to no tariff on ceramics. Local manufacturers of ceramic tiles said that another avenue of massive duty evasion is Afghan Transit Trade, which remains open to the ceramics traders.
Sources said that the Afghanistan-bound containers full of ceramic items never touch Afghan soil as the goods sold in the local market at far cheaper rates than the locally produced tiles.
"A large number of importers are trying to bulldoze the government departments by pressurising them with legal notices and like in the past with media coverage to their advantage in order to achieve their objective whether it is the examination of goods at Custom level or fixing of valuation of goods," a local manufacturer said adding that the Afghan Transit Trade is also damaging the ceramic industry in Pakistan with huge quantities of tiles and ceramics imports to the tune of billions of rupees every year.-PR