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India Rejects More Anti-Dumping Duties as China Imports Shift

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India Rejects More Anti-Dumping Duties as China Imports Shift

2026-08-01 13:37 UTCBy AlphaScala Research DeskSource reporting: thehindu.comEditorial standards

India Rejects More Anti-Dumping Duties as China Imports Shift

India's Finance Ministry rejected up to 62% of anti-dumping duty recommendations annually since 2020, up from 0.5% historically, as China import composition shifts toward intermediate goods.

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India's Ministry of Finance has sharply increased its rejection rate of anti-dumping duty recommendations since 2020, a shift that coincides with a change in what the country imports from China. The data, compiled by the Centre for Digital Economy Policy (C-DEP) and shared with The Hindu, shows the rejection rate jumped from a historic 0.5% to between 50% and 62% in the three fiscal years starting 2020-21. It fell to 20.8% in 2023-24 and then to 6.1% in 2024-25 before rising again to 41.5% in the first nine months of fiscal 2025-26.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGTR) investigates whether goods are being sold in India below cost by trade partners. If it finds dumping, it recommends the Finance Ministry impose a duty. Between 1991 and 2020, the ministry rejected just 5 of 1,052 such recommendations. Since 2020, the rejection rate has been far higher.

Cases involving goods from China account for 72% of all rejections since 2000, a senior government official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity given the strategic sensitivity, said that is partly because China also accounts for a disproportionate share of investigations and recommendations. China has a higher share of rejections because it has a higher share of investigations, the official said.

The rejection trend tracks a shift in what India buys from China. Finished goods like telecom instruments have fallen from 18% of India's China imports in early 2015 to 11% now. Manufactured fertiliser dropped from 7.5% to under 1%. Consumer electronics have halved as a share. Meanwhile, electronic components rose from 3.3% of India's China imports in early 2015 to nearly 13% as of early 2026. Other intermediate goods used in domestic manufacturing, including electric machinery, chemicals, and plastics, have also gained share.

Most goods imported from China are capital goods, intermediate goods, and raw materials such as active pharmaceutical ingredients, auto components, and mobile phone parts, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada told the Lok Sabha in February 2026. These are used to make finished products that are also exported from India, he said.

The policy shift has drawn criticism from the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Ashwani Mahajan, the group's National Co-Convener, said the government's mindset that restricting imports is protectionist is wrong. Anti-dumping duty is a remedy, not a protection, he told The Hindu. The DGTR produces a 100 to 200 page report with input from all sides, including international experience in the sector, before making a recommendation. It is not based on whims but on data, Mahajan said. He added that if the Finance Ministry does not accept the data in those reports, it should explain why.

The rejection rate increase is one part of a broader balancing act. India's government has been walking a tightrope between maintaining strategic objectives and encouraging more trade and investment from the U.S. and China, according to The Hindu. The approach has seen gradual relaxations in several long-held policies.

In 2020, India amended its FDI policy to require government approval for investments from countries sharing a land border, a move aimed at preventing opportunistic takeovers during the pandemic. In March 2026, the Union Cabinet approved a small dilution, allowing investments from companies with up to 10% Chinese ownership to enter through the automatic route without express government approval. The government said the change would help leverage India's competitiveness as a preferred investment destination and support the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

In July, the government issued an order allowing four companies with Chinese ownership or links to bid for power sector projects tendered by the Indian government. The government also diluted its strict ban on FDI in e-commerce companies that hold inventory in India. The July 23 rule change allows FDI in e-commerce companies that hold inventory for the express purpose of exports. The government said the move would facilitate greater exports by giving Indian sellers easier access to global markets.

On tariffs, India won a lower rate from the U.S. after the U.S. launched an investigation into whether 60 trade partners were doing enough to prevent imports of goods made using forced labor. The draft report proposed a 12.5% tariff on India. India then notified a ban on imports of goods made using forced labor. The final U.S. tariff came in at 10%, lower than the proposed rate.

The government has not commented on the specific reasons for individual rejection decisions.