India mulling anti-dumping duties on Thai TBR tires

New Delhi – The Indian government is likely to place anti-dumping duties on the import of new truck and bus radial tires originating from Thailand, following a recommendation by the commerce ministry.

In a notification published 27 Nov, the ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) said it had established that the Indian domestic industry had suffered material injury from the imports of ''new pneumatic radial tires of rubber for buses and lorries, with or without tubes and/or flaps'' from Thailand for five years.

The authority started its probe into the case following an application filed by Automotive Tyre Manufacturer's Association (ATMA) in December last year. 

Following the year-long investigation, the authority said it had noted that “there has been a significant increase in dumped imports, both in absolute terms and in relation to production and consumption in India.” 

Imports, the report said, are “undercutting the domestic prices to a significant degree and are also causing price suppression effect for the domestic industry.” 

The authority said it had established a dumping margin of 10%-30% for Zhongce Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd and 20%-40% for other producers, which included Bridgestone Asia Pacific, Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Thailand, Michelin Siam, Deestone Corp. Ltd and Siam Truck Radial Co. Ltd.

Therefore, it recommended anti-dumping duties of $337.80 (€278.6) per tonne for Zhongce Rubber Thailand and $527.08 per tonne for all other producers or exporters of such tires from Thailand.

The Indian finance ministry will take the final decision to impose the duty. Companies affected by the findings of the report can appeal against the order.