Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Rubber & Plastics News
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • LogIn
  • News
  • Technology Focus
    • Features
    • Technical Papers
    • Analysis: Rubber mixing plants of the future
      Analysis: US probes dumping by ESBR suppliers
      Opinion: Tire labels stuck in a rut
      Analysis: NR pricing takes one step forward, two steps back
    • White paper: Role of tire innerliners in improving 'in-use rolling resistance'
      White paper: Why tire air retention matters now more than ever
      Nippon Soda: Use of 1,2-polybutadiene in CSM rubber applications
      Elastomers for Sustainability Top 10
  • Events
    • ERJ Events
    • ERJ Livestreams & Webinars
    • Industry Events
    • Journey to Automation Awards 2020
      Sustainability: Top 10 E4S projects table
  • Maps & Reports
  • People
  • Directory
  • Digital Edition
  • Brainiac
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 21, 2016 12:00 AM

India to put tariffs on moulding machines from Taiwan, Vietnam

Patrick Raleigh
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Delhi – India is to impose steep tariffs of at least 23 percent on injection moulding machines from Taiwan, Vietnam and other Asian countries, arguing that its machinery producers were being hurt by imports dumped at unfair prices.

    But the decision has been hotly contested within India, with a trade association for injection moulders arguing the move would raise costs for those companies, reduce jobs and hold back the development of India’s industry broadly, even if it helped machinery producers.

    The announcement from India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry earlier this month came after the ministry late last year renewed similar anti-dumping tariffs on moulding machines from China for another five years.

    The two decisions together essentially erect high walls around India for standard injection moulding machines from most of the other Asian producers of such mid-priced equipment.

    The initial 2009 tariffs against China priced those moulding machines out of the Indian market, allowing Taiwan and other places to increase their exports.

    Specifically, this latest decision puts anti-dumping duties in place for five years on imports from Taiwan (27.98%), Vietnam (23.15%), Malaysia (44.74%) and the Philippines (30.85%).

    It covers moulding machines with clamping forces between 40 and 3,200 tonnes, but exempts all-electric moulding machines, blow moulding machines, vertical injection equipment and some specialised injection machines for making footwear.

    The Indian government said India’s domestic machinery industry suffered “significant and material” harm from the dumped imports and that they “significantly undercut the prices of the domestic industry”.

    The government report said India’s injection machinery market dropped from 3,800 machines a year in the 2010-2011 fiscal year (which ended 31 March, 2011) to 2,700 machines in 2013-2014.

    Domestic production dropped in that time, from just over 2,000 machines a year to about 1,660, and imports from the four countries fell from 881 to 611.

    “The dumped imports from the subject countries and other countries account for about 24 percent of the demand in India in a declining market and have thereby worsened the condition of the domestic industry through their volume as well as price effects,” the government said.

    However a trade association of Indian moulding companies argued that the real culprit was not dumped imports, but the dramatically slowing economy.

    The Mumbai-based All India Plastic Manufacturers Association (Aipma) said India’s machinery manufacturers made their problems worse by expanding capacity between 2010 and 2014, from 3,600 machines a year to 4,800 machines, and were now suffering from those ill-timed investments.

    In comments summarised by the Indian government, Aipma said duties would hurt India’s moulding industry by raising the cost of key capital equipment and “threaten a more significant number of jobs in the downstream [moulding] industry than the number of jobs allegedly at risk in the domestic [machinery] industry”.

    The Plastics Machinery Manufacturers Association of India, which first asked for the duties against the four countries in 2014, disputed that.

    It said the latest duties would “have insignificant impact on the downstream industry” because, it said, there was no adverse effect from the 2009 duties against Chinese machines.

    The New Delhi-based PMMAI acknowledged that the slowing economy hurt machinery makers but said imports had made the problem worse.

    “While it is appreciated that the decline in demand has been partly responsible for the decline in production and sales, the presence of subject imports due to dumping by foreign producers has aggravated injury to the domestic industry,” it said.

    PMMAI maintained that after the 2009 tariffs on China, some Chinese manufacturers started shifting production elsewhere. China’s largest machine maker, Haitian International, opened a Vietnam factory, although Haitian officials said that was also to serve the Southeast Asian markets.

    Two Taiwanese companies won carve outs from the tariffs. Asian Plastic Machinery, a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s Chen Hsong Machinery, will be hit with an antidumping penalty of 6.06% and Jon Wai Machinery will have no anti-dumping penalty.

    India’s government said those two companies submitted complete financial information to prove their cases.

    Taiwan’s machinery association called the ruling unfair and said Taiwanese companies would lose market share as a result.

    The Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (Tami) said India was one of the top five export markets for its injection moulding machines and estimated the ruling will cost Taiwanese companies $18m (£12.6m) to $24m (£16.8m) in lost sales annually.

    “In order to keep Taiwanese competition in India, Taiwanese makers have no choice but [to] plan to build factories in India,” said Alan Wang, president of Tami’s Plastics and Rubber Machinery Committee, in a statement.

    “Perhaps [that is the] main purpose of this final decision of Anti-Dumping Duty against Taiwan.”

    Tami also noted that this latest ruling was stricter than the one against China, which only applied to injection machines up to 1,000 tonnes clamping force.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    ExxonMobil rolls out new TPV challenger to EPDM weatherseals
    ExxonMobil rolls out new TPV challenger to EPDM weatherseals
    Amaplast predicts “negative result” for Italian machinery makers
    Amaplast predicts “negative result” for Italian machinery makers
    Rubber testing firms in UK-US link-up
    Rubber testing firms in UK-US link-up
    Free Newsletters

    Breaking news and in-depth coverage of essential topics delivered straight to your inbox.

    Subscribe today

    Get the latest news impacting the European rubber industry, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Youtube

    Logo
    Contact Us

    @ 2019 European Rubber Journal. All rights reserved.
    Contact Us European Rubber Journal, Crain Communication LTD, Ground Floor 11 Ironmonger Lane, London EC2V 8EY, UK

    Customer Service:
    1-313-446-0450

    Resources
    • About us
    • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
    • Technology Focus
      • Features
      • Technical Papers
    • Events
      • ERJ Events
      • ERJ Livestreams & Webinars
      • Industry Events
    • Maps & Reports
    • People
    • Directory
    • Digital Edition
    • Brainiac