At the outset, the preliminary findings make perfect sense. If the plates are being imported at a lower price, it would be termed as under-invoicing by Chinese exporters. The anti dumping duty will protect the Indian manufacturer TechNova, thereby protecting brand India. AIFMP's strategy as a national body is to not support any kind of anti-dumping duty, be it on paper, plates, inks or any other raw materials. Although we strongly feel that the Indian maufacturer has to self sustain
and we would like the local industry to survive,  there should be a level playing field for other players as well. I feel the only way to resolve this would be to have a reference price for digital offset plates similar to what is valid for the PS plates currently. For example, if a reference price of PS plate is three US dollars per sq/mtr, than anything below this rate gets viable for anti dumping duty. If the imports are priced below the reference point, the anti-dumping duty rates will be equal to the difference between the landed and the reference price.

Two things will happen if the reference price gets implemented. One, the governmoent will not loose its revenue and two, TechNova gets a fair playing ground in the competition. The reference point mechanism is the best way to go about with it, although it can be expected to be circumvented thus nullifying the effect of ant-dumping duty.

Also, one should consider the scenario without the Indian manufacturer. It could lead to a monopoly of the Chinese exporters and we could be at their mercy. My business will get affected. Although I could get cheap products from China, for me the quality is of prime importance. And I completely trust TechNova since it delivers the desired quality that we require.

Fuji plates are being used by big print firms in India, but these are not the under-valued plates. These are of premium quality and costs me more than what TechNova is supplying. In fact, both Fuji and Kodak supply plates at lower rates only in India and not in any of the neighbouring countries. One would want to ask why? There is a possibility that once the Indian manufacturer is out of the picture, the importers will increase their price. Plus there is an issue of dependability.

Having said this, I would like to add as a subtle caveat that the Indian manufacturer should maintain the current prices after the anti dumping duty gets imposed. Its price structure should remain unchanged.

 

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