Taiwan calls up WTO on USB duty in India

The Taiwanese government has asked India to enter negotiations under a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement mechanism over the anti-dumping penalty New Dehli has imposed on its USB flash drive exporters since May, reported Taipei Times.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that India’s tariffs against Taiwan’s USB flash drive exporters were imposed after a flawed investigation process and the penalties have caused serious financial damage.
New Dehli in June last year launched an investigation into accusations that USB flash drive exporters from Taiwan, China and South Korea were dumping their products in India.
The companies were slapped with an anti-dumping penalty of US$3.06 for each USB drive they ship to India.
The ministry said that Indian authorities failed to evaluate all of the necessary information during their investigation, while the Indian government had failed to provide full information to Taiwanese exporters so that they could respond immediately and effectively to the accusations.
Although Taiwanese firms tried hard to cooperate during the investigation process and provide as much data as they could, they were still hit with exorbitantly high penalties, the Taipei-based daily had the ministry as saying.
Taiwan’s USB flash drive exports to India totaled US$206 million a year on average for the past three years. After the anti-dumping tariffs were imposed, Taiwan has sold virtually no USB products to India, according to Taipei Times.
The ministry said it decided to help exporters with a request through the WTO for talks with India. The WTO’s Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes or Dispute Settlement Understanding requires the Indian government to respond to Taiwan’s request for talks within 30 days.
If the negotiations fail, Taiwan would likely ask the WTO to organize a review committee, according to Taipei Times.
fii-news.com