India Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Chinese vitamin A Palmitate and Insoluble Sulfur Products

In recent days, the Indian government has taken tough anti-dumping measures on chemical exports from several countries, including China, in an effort to protect its local manufacturing industry. The decision, announced by the Indian Ministry of Finance in a notification issued on Friday evening, has come into effect immediately, marking India's increasingly protectionist trade policies amid intensifying competition in the global supply chain.

According to an investigation by India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), vitamin A palmitate and insoluble sulfur products from China, the European Union, Japan and Switzerland were allegedly exported to the Indian market at prices "below normal value", causing "substantial damage" to the local industry. Among them, Chinese companies are considered to be one of the main dumpers.

Vitamin A palmitate, as a key chemical raw material, is widely used in medicine, nutritional supplements, fortified foods and cosmetics. This time, India imposed an unprecedented anti-dumping duty of up to $20.87 per kilogram on the product from China. Although China's Shangyu NHU Biochem Co., Ltd. received a lower tax rate (US$14.95 per kilogram), overall, related Chinese export companies face severe challenges.

In contrast, DSM Nutritional Products, a well-known Swiss company, was only taxed at $0.87 per kilogram, showing that India has significant differences in tax standards. In addition, vitamin A palmitate imported from the EU will be uniformly taxed at $11.09 per kilogram. Only vitamin A products specifically used in animal feed (concentration of 1.6 million international units/gram) are included in the duty-free list.

At the same time, India also imposed anti-dumping duties on insoluble sulfur products exported from China and Japan. Insoluble sulfur plays an important role in the rubber vulcanization process and is an indispensable material for the tire manufacturing industry. Chinese exporters will face a uniform high tariff of $307 per ton, while Japanese exporters will face a tax rate ranging from $259 to $358 per ton depending on the company.

Analysts pointed out that India's move reflects that its trade defense policy is becoming tougher. Although India claims that its practices are in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations and are aimed at curbing "dumping", such practices may interfere with normal trade activities between China and India in the current context of highly interconnected global industrial chains and coordinated supply chains.

Chinese companies need to pay close attention to Indian market trends, strengthen product pricing and compliance management, and respond promptly to trade frictions that may extend to more chemical or manufacturing products.