Glossary

Anti-circumvention investigation

An investigation that checks whether an exporter is trying to get around an existing anti-dumping duty, for example by slightly altering a product's description, composition, form, or its declared country of origin. If circumvention is confirmed, the duty can be extended to cover the altered product.

Anti-dumping duty (ADD)

A duty imposed on an imported product when a foreign producer is found to be selling it in India below the price it charges in its own home market, and that pricing is causing injury to Indian producers of the same or a similar product.

Board of Safeguards

The body that decides, after a safeguard investigation's final finding is issued, whether a safeguard duty should actually be imposed, taking into account matters such as public interest.

Causal link

The requirement that the injury suffered by the domestic industry must actually be shown to result from the dumped, subsidised or surging imports under investigation, and not from some unrelated cause.

Countervailing duty (CVD)

A duty imposed to offset the advantage a foreign producer gets from a government subsidy in its home country, such as subsidised loans, tax exemptions or indirect payments, when that subsidised pricing is causing injury to Indian producers.

Developing country

A country the Central Government has officially notified as a developing country for the purposes of these trade remedy rules. The designation matters because developing countries get more lenient volume and subsidy thresholds before a measure applies to them.

Statutory definition: “developing country” means a country notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette, in this regard.Source: Section 9A, Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992

Disclosure of essential facts

Before issuing its final decision, the authority shares the essential facts behind that decision with all interested parties and gives them one further chance to respond, so that no final finding rests on facts a party never had the chance to see.

Domestic industry

The Indian producers of a product, considered as a group, whose situation is examined to decide whether dumped, subsidised or surging imports are causing them harm. Producers who are themselves related to, or are, the exporters or importers under investigation are generally excluded from this group.

Statutory definition: the domestic producers as a whole engaged in the manufacture of the like article and any activity connected therewith or those whose collective output of the said article constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of that article, except when such producers are related to the exporters or importers of the alleged dumped article or are themselves importers thereof.Source: Rule 2, AD Rules (Customs Tariff Rules, 1995)

Dumping margin

The gap between the normal value, the home market price, and the export price of the same product, measured at the same level of trade. It is the core measure of how much a producer is dumping by.

Export price

Broadly, the CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of the exported product, adjusted for costs such as ocean freight, insurance and commission, to arrive at an ex-factory price that can be fairly compared with the normal value.

Final finding (final determination)

The authority's concluding decision in an investigation, issued after considering all submissions, the oral hearing and responses to the disclosure statement. It forms the basis for whether a definitive duty is imposed.

HS code (Harmonized System code)

The customs tariff classification number assigned to a product under India's Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Investigations, duty notifications, and the case tracker on this site are all organised around the HS codes of the products involved; your import or export documents will show the HS code used for your goods.

Injury margin

The gap between the non-injurious price (what the domestic industry should reasonably have been able to charge) and the landed value of the dumped imports. India applies whichever is lower between the injury margin and the dumping margin, a practice known as the lesser duty rule.

Inspection folder

A file kept open for interested parties to inspect, containing the non-confidential versions of applications and responses filed in an anti-dumping or safeguard investigation, so that parties can see the case being made. In a countervailing duty case, the equivalent file is called a public file.

Interested party

Anyone with a direct stake in an investigation: the domestic industry that raised the complaint, the exporters or foreign producers under investigation, the importers of the product, the government of the exporting country, and relevant trade or business associations.

Statutory definition: “interested party” includes an exporter or a foreign producer or the importer of an article subject to investigation for being dumped in India, or a trader or business association a majority of the members of which are producers, exporters or importers of such an article.Source: Rule 2, AD Rules (Customs Tariff Rules, 1995)

Landed value

The value of an imported product once it has reached India, used to calculate the injury margin. It is generally the assessable value under the Customs Act plus the applicable basic customs duty, but not extra duties such as CVD or special additional duty.

Lesser duty rule

India's practice of capping an anti-dumping duty at whichever is lower, the dumping margin or the injury margin, rather than always charging the full dumping margin. This keeps the duty limited to what is actually needed to remove the injury to the domestic industry.

Like article

A product identical to the one under investigation, or, if none is truly identical, one that closely resembles it in its characteristics. It is the comparison product used when assessing dumping and injury.

Mid-term review (MTR)

A review of an anti-dumping duty carried out after it has been in force for a while, normally at least 12 months, checking whether it is still needed or should be adjusted. It can be started by the authority on its own, or at an interested party's request.

New shipper review (NSR)

A review that lets an exporter or producer who did not ship the product to India during the original investigation period apply for its own individual duty rate, instead of being stuck with the rate set for the country generally.

Non-injurious price (NIP)

The price level the domestic industry would be expected to charge under normal conditions, covering a reasonable recovery of production costs and profit. It is calculated from the industry's own costing data and used to work out the injury margin.

Normal value

The comparable price of the same or a similar product when it is sold in the ordinary course of trade in the exporting producer's own domestic market. It is the benchmark against which the export price is compared to test for dumping.

Oral hearing

A formal session where interested parties can present their arguments and evidence directly to the authority, rather than only in writing. Anything said orally only counts toward the record once it is put in writing.

Period of investigation (POI)

The time window, normally 12 months, over which the authority examines evidence of dumping or subsidy. The injury period considered alongside it is usually the three financial years immediately before the POI.

Preliminary finding

An early finding the authority issues once it has gathered enough information to justify continuing the case or to justify a provisional duty. It is not the final word on the investigation.

Price effect

One of the two ways injury is assessed, looking at whether the imports have significantly undercut domestic prices, or have depressed prices, or stopped them rising the way they otherwise would have.

Product under consideration (PUC)

The specific product being investigated for dumping, subsidy or import surge, precisely defined so that everyone knows exactly which goods a case, and any resulting duty, applies to.

Provisional duty

A temporary duty the authority can recommend, based on its preliminary finding, to prevent injury while the investigation is still going on. It can only start after 60 days from initiation and has fixed maximum durations that differ by measure type.

Public notice

The formal notice DGTR issues to inform interested parties that an investigation has been initiated, or that a finding has been reached, and to invite them to file their responses.

Quantitative restrictions

Limits the Central Government can place on the quantity of a product that may be imported, used when a sudden increase in imports is causing or threatening serious injury to the domestic industry. Unlike a duty, a quantitative restriction caps the amount that can come in rather than adding a cost.

Questionnaire response

The detailed information form an interested party, such as an exporter, importer or domestic producer, files with the authority during an investigation. Filing a questionnaire response automatically registers the filer as an interested party, even without a separate written request.

Retrospective duty

Duty applied to imports that arrived before the notification imposing the duty was issued. Anti-dumping and countervailing duty can each reach back up to 90 days in specific situations, while safeguard duty is never applied retrospectively.

Safeguard duty

A temporary duty applied when imports of a product surge suddenly and cause or threaten serious injury to domestic producers, even without any unfair pricing or subsidy involved. It gives domestic producers time to adjust, and it is applied uniformly to all countries, unlike anti-dumping duty.

Serious injury

Harm to the domestic industry serious enough to significantly impair its overall position. This is the standard used in safeguard cases, distinct from the injury standard used in anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases.

Statutory definition: “serious injury” means an injury causing significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry.Source: Section 9A, Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992

Subsidy

Financial assistance a foreign government gives to its own industry, for example subsidised loans, tax exemptions or indirect payments, that lets exporters sell at prices lower than they could otherwise afford. Countervailing duty exists to offset the advantage this creates.

Sunset review (SSR)

A review carried out before an anti-dumping duty's normal five year term ends, to decide whether dumping and injury would likely continue or come back if the duty were removed. It can be requested by the domestic industry, normally at least 270 days before expiry, or started by DGTR on its own.

Threat of serious injury

A clear, imminent danger that serious injury is about to occur, used in safeguard cases to justify action even before the harm has fully happened.

Statutory definition: “threat of serious injury” means a clear and imminent danger of serious injury.Source: Section 9A, Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992

Volume effect

The other main way injury is assessed alongside the price effect, looking at how much market share the domestic industry has lost to the dumped, subsidised or surging imports.