India extends anti-dumping duty on jute goods from Bangladesh, Nepal

India has extended anti-dumping duty on various jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal.

"The anti-dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be levied for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette and shall be payable in Indian currency," a notification from the Indian finance ministry dated 30 December 2022 said, reports the Telegraph India. 

The duty applicable is in the range of $6.3 to $351.72 per tonne.

In January 2017, India imposed anti-dumping duties ranging from $19 to $352 per tonne for five years on jute exports from Bangladesh. After the five-year period expired on 1 January 2022, the country started a review on keeping the duty for a while longer.

In October last year, India's Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommended its finance ministry to again impose anti-dumping duty on jute goods exports of Bangladesh for another five years, prompting Bangladesh's commerce ministry to initiate discussions with exporters to determine the course of action.

Bangladesh Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi wrote to their Indian counterparts, asking them to not impose the anti-dumping duties on jute products once again. 

At the time, Tipu Munshi told The Business Standard that he and his Cabinet colleagues had made the request on the basis of an assurance to that end by India.

The commerce secretary of India had earlier indicated there might be an announcement on this issue during the Bangladesh prime minister's recent visit to Delhi.

But the joint statement of the prime ministers of the two countries did not mention anything in this regard.

In FY22, Bangladesh's jute yarn, twine, sacks and bags posted 14% negative growth compared to exports in the previous year.