Indian Government Extends the Anti-Dumping Duty on Sodium Citrate

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in India recommended prolonging the anti-dumping tariff on imports of Sodium Citrate from China following a comprehensive inquiry. The government of India has extended the antidumping activity in Sodium Citrate, one of the key pharmaceutical excipients, to protect the domestic industry against low-cost imports from the Asian neighbor. It was discovered that there had been ongoing dumping of Chinese products in India, which is harming the domestic industry. The demand for Sodium Citrate remains high throughout the APAC area, nevertheless.

However, one of the major exporters of this excipient to India, China, has seen a decline in trade activity since 2020, making it more challenging for the Chinese market to export orders it has received. Also, the Indian market placed an antidumping tariff on this pharmaceutical excipient to expand its markets for Sodium Citrate and grow its domestic production facilities. The DGTR's conclusion that certain pharmaceutical excipients, including Sodium Citrate, further divided into Sodium Citrate Dihydrate and Sodium Citrate Anhydrous, have been exported at a price below normal value in Indian markets, resulting in dumping, was another factor that led to the imposition or extension of Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD), because of this, the domestic industry in the Indian market has suffered material injury due to dumping.

Anti-dumping duties are levied to safeguard domestic enterprises and markets against unfair foreign competition. When the government thinks that international imports are being "dumped" in the local market because of their low pricing, anti-dumping taxes are levied. Due to the importation of less expensive goods, the manufacturer and suppliers have been forced to reduce prices in order to remain competitive aggressively.

Moreover, in the current month, i.e., March 2023, the prices and demand for Sodium Citrate witnessed in both the Indian and the Chinese domestic markets stayed in the Norward direction. Indian manufacturers focused on raising their stock levels for Sodium Citrate to cope with the surge in purchasing activity coupled with the rise in its upstream Citric Acid cost.