Washington: The United States has imposed anti-dumping duties on import of silicomanganese from India and two other countries setting a margin of 15.32 to 20.42 per cent for the Indian products.

US International Trade Commission (USITC) voted 5-0 to impose anti-dumping duties on India, Kazakhstan and Venezuela.

The dumping margins were set at 15.32 to 20.42 per cent for Indian exports, 247.88 per cent in the case of Kazakhstan and 24.62 per cent for Venezuela.

This was a "final decision", the Commission said.

Imposition of anti-dumping duties requires affirmative final determination both from the US Commerce Department that dumping occurred and from USITC that American industry was injured or threatened.

In March, the Commerce Department issued its affirmative final dumping determination on imports from all the three countries. The USITC has now made a similar determination and US customs service is allowed to impose anti-dumping duties.

Dumping is the import of goods at a price below the home market or a third country price or below the cost of production. A dumping margin represents by how much the fair value price exceeds the dumped price.

In 2001, the combined imports of silicomanganese from India, Kazakhstan and Venezuela amounted to over $ 31 million.

In another ruling on April 29, USITC voted to proceed with an anti-dumping investigation of ball bearings imported from China. The commissioners found a "reasonable indication" that domestic producers were materially hurt by these imports.

The US is for free trade but only so long as its industry is not hurt.

PTI