DCCI urges govt to negotiate duty on jute with India

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has urged the Bangladesh government to negotiate on the proposed anti-dumping duty on jute and jute products exported to India. DCCI has urged the government to review the entire process of anti-dumping investigation while taking into consideration trading relations between both the countries.

The jute and jute goods imported from Bangladesh may be subjected to 25-30 per cent duty upon entry in the Indian market, if the anti-dumping duty proposed by Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) comes into effect. This will adversely affect the local growers, producers, exporters in Bangladesh and will also stimulate trade imbalance between both the countries, DCCI said in a statement.

It was in October last year that the Indian anti-dumping authority had began with the investigation process after allegations were made against Bangladeshi exporters for selling jute products at a lower price than those in the Indian domestic market. This was for the first time in a span of 40 years that an accusation was made by the Indian Jute Mills Association.

The (DGAD) report is not yet made public, DCCI said and added, “There is no clear finding of injury caused by our exported price and volume on Indian local finished producers.”

India accounts for 20 per cent of all jute exports from Bangladesh.