India seeks anti-dumping duties against Taiwanese machines

The Indian plastics machinery industry is asking its government to impose anti-dumping duties on injection moulding machines from Taiwan, according the Plastics Machinery Manufacturers Association of India (PMMAI).

The comments were the first public confirmation that the PMMAI is now targeting imports from Taiwan, as it seek to broaden the anti-dumping duties imposed on mainland Chinese machines to other countries.

Previously, PMMAI said only that it wanted duties against machinery from Vietnam and the Philippines, in an apparent reference to factories set up in those countries by mainland Chinese manufacturers such as Haitian International Holdings.

But in a statement to Plastics News, the group suggested it wants to go further, seeking duties against press makers in Taiwan, which has one of Asia’s largest plastics machinery industries, as well as elsewhere in Asia. It said it made a confidential request to the Indian government.

“PMMA has sought imposition of anti-dumping duty on some other countries like Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan etc,” the group said. “However [the] government of India would decide after investigation in respect of all the countries against whom industry has filed application.”

“The industry has already filed the petition,” the Indian association told PN. “In view of confidential information included in the petition, the details have not been made available even to the industry. Regret we will not be able to share the details with you.”

The Indian machinery group added that “the petition filed in respect of imports from countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia etc. looks like are at dumped prices and causing injury to the Indian domestic industry”.

According to PMMAI data, Taiwan was the largest source of imports of injection moulding machines for the last three years, accounting for between 30-50 percent of plastic machinery brought into India.

In 2010-2011, for example, Taiwan accounted for 672 of the 1,397 units of imported plastics machinery.

India’s decision to put steep tariffs of between 60 and 174 percent on Chinese-made moulding machines in 2009 effectively froze those companies out of the market, and Taiwan industry sources have said their companies moved quickly to take advantage.

But similar tariffs directed at them could also freeze Taiwanese companies out of India.

The Taipei-based Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry did not respond to an email requesting comment. Taiwanese injection press makers contacted by Plastics News said they did not want to comment on reports of Indian activity, but one manager said Taiwanese equipment makers do not dump their equipment.

India is an important market for Taiwan, but putting steep duties in place would slow down India’s industrial development, the source said.

The Indian government should adopt a more open attitude toward foreign technology, similar to that of the mainland Chinese government, and even if more equipment is imported initially, it would force the local industry to upgrade and encourage more foreign investment in the country, the manager said.