Assoc wants AD duty on China, Malaysia television panels

An association of local electrical goods and home appliance makers has requested Bangladesh Tariff Commission to take steps to impose anti-dumping duties on import of television panels and some electric products from countries like China and Malaysia.
BTC has asked the Bangladesh Electrical, Electronics and Home Appliances Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BEEMEA) to provide more details on its claim about dumping of the products, said officials of the commission.
BEEMEA in July made two separate requests to BTC to impose anti-dumping duty on television panels of China and Malaysia and on electric items like switch and sockets of China and India.
It said that three countries were dumping the products, with lower value than the market price, into Bangladesh to damage the domestic industry.
Local importers are also declaring lower prices of the products through under-invoicing mechanism to evade customs duty and other taxes.
In this context, the government should impose appropriate anti-dumping duty on import of these products to protect domestic industry, it demanded.
Industry people claimed that some little known companies imported television panels to assemble in Bangladesh and sold those at lower prices.
Tariff commission has already sent the set of questionnaires to fill up and forward to the commission with reliable proofs in favour of their claims.
BTC informed the association that, as per World Trade Organisation and BTC rules, there was specific process of investigation into the dumping allegations, they said.
The commission would have to follow the process and the association would have to provide the information as part of the process, they added.
They said that BEEMEA was working on the issue and trying to prepare the required documents. 
The issue is completely new to the industry, so it is taking time, they added.
According to the association, domestic industries are manufacturing television panel and some of the raw materials are also being produced in the country. 
The price of locally produced television panel stands at more than $ 40 whereas the price of imported panel falls on an average $ 25. 
Every year, on an average 20 lakh television panels are being imported mainly from China and Malaysia to assemble television sets. 
On the other hand, local manufacturers are producing high-quality electric products and the prices of the products remain on average $8-$10 per kilogram.
The country consumes the products worth Tk 600-Tk 700 crore every year, according to the estimation of the association. 
Of which, around 35-40 per cent of total consumption is being imported with import price at $ 3-$ 4 a kg from India and China, it said.
Source: http://www.newagebd.net

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