At the end of September 2023, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India launched an anti-dumping investigation into alleged dumping of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) originating or exported from China, upon application by the domestic company Covestro (India) Pvt Ltd.

Anti-dumping is a measure taken to counteract the dumping of foreign goods in the domestic market. To avoid foreign goods being sold at excessively low prices and harming local enterprises, some countries conduct anti-dumping investigations on such products as a means of protecting their domestic industries. The usual measure for handling anti-dumping cases is the imposition of “anti-dumping duties” in addition to regular import taxes, making it difficult for the goods to be sold at cheap prices.

This application is in accordance with the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, as amended in 1995. The initiation notification from the Government of India shows that Covestro (India) Pvt Ltd. has filed an application before the designated authority on behalf of the domestic industry, under the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment, and Collection of Anti-Dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules. The applicant has claimed that the subject goods, which have been alleged to be dumped in India, are identical to the goods produced by the domestic industry. There are no known differences in the technical specifications, quality, function, and end use of the two products.

Two days before the notification by Indian government, Covestro had just broken ground on its largest TPU site in Zhuhai, Guangdong, expanding its production capacity in South China. Similarly, Covestro (India) Pvt Ltd. is the only TPU producer in India, accounting for 100% of India’s TPU production. The move is believed to align with India’s protectionist policies, solidify Covestro’s position in the Indian TPU market, and reduce the impact of competing products from China.

From September 20 to September 30, India launched several anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products. Apart from TPU, the surveyed product range also includes trichloro isocyanuric acid, soft ferrite cores, roller chains, cellophane transparent film and others. The increased tariffs have driven the development of Southeast Asia, and many companies have resorted to transshipment through Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia to avoid the high tariffs and anti-dumping duties of the United States and Turkey, among others.