India starts countervailing duty probe on Chinese FKM

New Delhi – The Indian government has launched a countervailing duty probe into the imports of “certain" subsidised fluoroelastomers” (FKM) from the People’s Republic of China.

The investigations, which were officially launched 29 Aug, were upon a complaint by Indian FKM manufacturer Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd.

In its application, Gujarat Fluorochemicals alleged that producers/exporters of the product in China benefited from “actionable subsidies provided by various levels in the government of China.”

The subsidies, the company claimed, come from governments of the different provinces and municipalities in which the producers/exporters are located, and other ‘

public bodies.

The Indian ministry of commerce has now sent questionnaires to importers and exporters of the product to investigate the issue further.

The authority said it had “sufficient evidence of subsidisation” of the product originating from China, and “causal link” between alleged subsidisation and injury to the domestic industry.

The period of investigation covers January 2017 – December 2017, but will cover data from 2014-2017.