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EXTRAORDINARY
PART I —Section 1
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 240] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2023/ASVINA 7, 1945
CG-DL-E-03102023-249105
MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(Department of Commerce )
(DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF TRADE REMEDIES)
New Delhi , 29th September , 2023
INITIATION NOTIFICATION
Case No. AD(OI) –22/2023
Subject: Initiation of anti -dumping investigation concerning imports of “Thermoplastic
Polyurethane (TPU)” originating in or exported from China PR
F. No. 6/ 23/2023 -DGTR .—1. Covestro (India) Pvt Ltd. (hereinafter also referred to as the “ applicant”) has
filed an application before the Designated Authority (hereinafter referred to as the “Auth ority”), on behalf of the
domestic industry, in accordance with the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, as amended in 1995 and thereaf ter (hereinafter
referred to as “Act”) and the Customs Tariff ( Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti -dumping duty on
Dum ped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995, as amended from time to time (hereinafter referred to
as “Rules”) , for initiation of an anti -dumping investigation concerning imports of “Thermoplastic Polyurethane ”
(“TPU”) (hereinafter referred t o as “subject goods” or “product under consideration” or “PUC”), originating in or
exported from China PR (hereinafter refer red to as “subject country”).
2. The applicant has alleged that injury and threat of injury is being caused to the domestic industry du e to the
dumped impor ts, originating in or exported from the subject country and has requested for the imposition of
anti-dumping duty on the imports of the subject goods from the subject country.
A. PRODUCT UNDER CONSIDERATION
3. The product under consideration is “Thermoplastic Polyurethane” (“TPU”) originating in or exported from
China PR . TPU is a melt-processable thermoplastic elastomer having unique properties of plastic and rubber,
including elasticity, transparency, and resista nce to oil, grease, and abrasion . TPU is thermoplastic elastomer
consisting of linear segmented block copolymer composed of hard and soft segments. PUC covers TPU in the
form of powder, granules, pellets, unmodified or modified by colourants, fillers or o ther additives.
4. TPU is a unique type of plastic that bridges the gap between rubber and plastic. TPU combines a multitu de of
strengths characterizing rubber on one hand and thermoplastic materials on the other. TPU can, for instance, be
deformed under tens ile and compressive load, but af terwards return to their original shape. Furthermore, it can be
stretched when heated, and when heated even, they can be melted and moulded over and over again. The key to
TPU's versatility is that its hardness can be highly customized. TPU can be as soft as rubber or as hard as rigid
plastic. TPU can be transparent or coloured or hard or soft/smooth to provide grip.
5. TPU is obtained from the reaction of polyols (polyester or polyether or polycaprolactone based or a combination
of these), diisocyanates and short -chain diols. Additives can be added to these to achieve special properties. By
combining all the elements, a wide range of hardness and mechanica l properties can be achieved. PUC is offered
by the applicant in different grades. How ever, these different grades are different merely in terms of properties,
which can be achieved through control on process parameters and use of specific additives. All t hese grades
remain the same as one article.
6. The product scope covers polyester -based TPU as well as polyether -based TPU, and polycaprolactone -based
TPU is specifically excluded from the scope of product.
7. The product under co nsideration is used in a wide va riety of applications including automotive instrument
panels, agriculture (animal ID tags), caster wheels, power tools, sporting goods, medical devices, tubes & hoses,
belts and profiles industry , footwear, inflatable rafts, variety of extruded film, sheet and profile applications,
outer cases of m obile electronic devices, keyboard protectors for laptops etc. TPU is also substituting rubber and
PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) in premium motorcycle market as well as passenger car in teriors.
8. The product under inves tigation is being imported under Custom Tariff Heading 39095000 of the First Schedule
to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. However, it is possible that the subject goods may also be imported under other
headings and therefore, t he Customs tariff he ading is ind icative only and is not binding on scope of the product.
9. The parties to the present investigation may provide their comments on the PUC and propose PCNs, if any,
within 15 days of the circulation of the non -confidential vers ion of the document s filed befor e the Authority .
B. LIKE ARTICLE
10. The applicant has claimed that the subject goods, which have been alleged to be dumped in India, are identical to
the goods produced by the domestic industry. There are no known differences in t he technical specifications,
quality, functions and end use of the two products. The Authority notes that the two are prima facie technically
and commercially substitutable. Therefore, for the purpose of the present investigation, the goods produced by
the applicant in India are being t reated as ‘ like article’ to the sub ject goods being imported from the subject
country .
C. SUBJECT COUNTRY
11. The subject country in the present petition is China PR.
D. PERIOD OF INVESTIGATION (POI)
12. The period of investigation (POI) adopted by the Authority for the present investigation is 1 st April , 2022 to 31st
March , 2023. The injury investigation period covers the periods 1st April , 2019 – 31st March , 2020, 1st April ,
2020 – 31st March , 2021, 1st April,2021 – 31st March ,2022 and t he POI.
E. DOMESTIC INDUSTRY AND ST ANDING
13. The application has been filed by Covestro (India) Pvt Ltd . The applicant has claimed that it is the sole producer
of the subject goods in India constituting 100% of the Indian production and therefore, has the requis ite standing
to file the present application.
14. As per the information submitted by the applicant, it has imported the subject goods from related
producer/exporter in China PR. Considering the volume of such imports i s not significant, the Authority notes,
after due examination, that the a pplicant constitutes eligible domestic industry in terms of the provisions of
Rule2(b) and the application satisfies the criteria in terms of Rule 5(3) of the Rules.
F. BASIS OF ALLEGED DUMPING
Normal Value
15. The applicant has cl aimed that in terms of Article 1 5(a)(i) of China's Accession Protocol and Para 7 of the
Annexure -I to the A nti-Dumping Duty Rules, the normal value for Chinese producers may be determined based
on the cost or domestic selling price prevailing in China PR, only if the responding Chinese producers
demonstrate that their cost and price information are based on market driven princ iples and allow for fair
comparison in terms of paras 1 to 6 of Annexure -I to the A nti-Dumping Duty Rules, failing which, normal val ue
for the Chinese producers mus t be determined based on paras 7 and 8 of Annexure -I to the Rules.
16. The applicant has also c laimed that the data relating to cost or price in a market economy third country or
recourse to other alternative methods is not avai lable. The normal value has been , thereby, constructed based on
the best estimates of the cost of the production of the domestic industry of the subject goods as per the best
information available after duly adjusting the selling, general and administrativ e expenses with reasonable
profi ts.
Export Price
17. The export price for the subject goods has been computed based on the D irectorate General of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI & S) transaction -wise import data. Appropriate price adjustments have been
claimed to make the prices at ex -factory levels so that they become comparable with normal value.
Dumping Margin
18. The normal value and the export price have been compared at the ex -factory level, which prima facie shows that
the dumping margin is abo ve the de-minim is level and is s ignificant in respect of the product under consideration
exported from the subject country. Thus, there is sufficient prima facie evidence that the product under
consideration from the subject country is being dumped in the Indian market by the exporters f rom the subject
country.
G. INJURY AND CAUSAL LINK
19. Information furnished by the applicant has been considered for assessment of injury to the domestic industry.
The applicant has furnished evidence regarding the injury taken pl ace as a result of the alleged d umping in the
form of increased volume of dumped imports in absolute terms and in relation to the production or consumption
in India, price undercutting , price underselling and price suppressing and depressing effect on the domestic
industry. The applican t has claimed that its performance has been adve rsely impacted in respect of sale,
profitability, return on investment, accumulation of inventories and capacity utilization as a result of increase in
imports of product under consideration at an injurious p rice for the domestic industry. There is suffici ent prima
facie evidence that the injury is being caused to the domestic industry by dumped imports from the subject
country.
H. INITIATION OF ANTI -DUMPING INVESTIGATION
20. On the b asis of the duly substantiated w ritten application by the domestic industry, an d having satisfied itself, on
the basis of the prima facie evidence submitted by the domestic industry, about dumping of the subject goods
originating in or exported from the su bject country, injury to the dom estic industry and causal link between such
alleged dumping and injury, and in accordance with Section 9A of the Act read with Rule 5 of the AD Rules, the
Authority, hereby, initiates an investigation to determine the existe nce, degree and effect of any al leged dumping
in respect of the subject goods originating in or exported from the subject country and to recommend the amount
of anti -dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic indu stry.
I. PROCEDURE
21. The principles a s stipulated under Rule 6 of the said Rules shall be followed in the present investigation.
J. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION
22. All communication should be sent to the Designated Authority via email at the email addresses adg14 -
dgtr@g ov.in, adv13 [email protected], dd16 [email protected] and singh.shivam @gov.in . It should be ensured that the
narrative part of the submission is i n searchable PDF/MS Word format and data files are in MS Excel format.
23. The known producers/exporters in the subject count ry, the government of the subjec t country through their
embassy in India, the importers and users in India who are known to be associa ted with the subject goods are
being informed separately to enable them to file all the relevant information in the form a nd manner prescribed
within the time limit set out below.
24. Any other interested party may also make its submissions relevant to the in vestigation in the form and manner
prescribed within the time -limit set out below. Any party making any confidential submis sion before the
Authority is req uired to make a non -confidential version of the same available to the other interested parties.
K. TIME LIMIT
25. Any information relating to the present investigation should be sent to the Designated Authority via email at the
following email addresses adg14 [email protected], adv13 [email protected], dd16 [email protected] and singh.shivam @gov.in
within thirty (30) days from the date on which it was sent by the Designated Authority or transmitted to the
appropriate diplomatic representative of the e xporting country as per Rule 6(4 ) of the Rules. If no information is
received within the prescribed time limit or the information received is incomplete, the Authority may record its
findings on the basis of the facts available on record in accordance with the Rules.
26. All the interested p arties are hereby advised to intimate their interest (including the nature of interest) in the
instant ma tter and file their questionnaire responses within the above time limit.
L. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION ON A CONFIDENTIAL BA SIS
27. Any party making any confide ntial submissions or providing information on a confidential basis before the
Authority, is required to simultaneously submit a non -confidential version of the same in terms of Rule 7(2) of
the Rules. Failure to adhere to th e above may lead to rejection of the response / submissions.
28. The parties making any submission (including appendices/ annexures attached thereto), before the Authority
including questionnaire response, are required to file confidential and non -confidential versions separately.
29. The “confid ential” or “non -confidential” submissions must be clearly marked as “confidential” or “non -
confidential” at the top of each page. Any submission made without such marking shall be treated as non -
confidential by the Authority , and the Authority shall be at liberty to allow the other interested parties to inspect
such submissions.
30. The non -confidenti al version is required to be a replica of the confidential version with the confidential
information preferably indexed or blanked out (in case indexation is not f easible) and summarized depending
upon the information on which confidentiality is claimed. T he non -confidential summary must be in sufficient
detail to permit a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information f urnished on confidential basis.
However, in exceptional circumstances, the party submitting the confidential information may indicate that such
information is not susceptible to summary, and a statement of reasons why summarization is not possible must
be provided to the satisfaction of the Authority.
31. The Authority may accept or reject the request for confidentiality on examina tion of the nature of the information
submitted. If the Authority is satisfied that the request for confidentiality is not warranted or if the supplier of the
infor mation is either unwilling to make the information public or to authorize its disclosure in generalized or
summary form, it may disregard such information.
32. Any submission made without a meaningful non -confidential version th ereof or without a good cause st atement
on the confidentiality claim shall not be taken on record by the Authority.
33. The in terested parties can offer their comments on the issues of confidentiality claimed by the domestic industry
within 7 days of the circu lation of the non -confidential v ersion of the documents filed before the Authority.
M. INSPECTION OF PUBLIC FILE
34. A list of registered interested parties will be uploaded on the DGTR’s website along with the request therein to
all of them to email the non -confidential version of their submis sions to all other interested parties.
N. NON -COOPERATION
35. In case any interested party refuses access to, or otherwise does not provide necessary information within a
reasonable period, or significantly impedes the investigatio n, the Authority may declare suc h interested party as
non-cooperative and record its findings on the basis of the f acts available to it and make such recommendations
to the Central Government as deemed fit.
ANANT SWARUP, Designated Authority
Uploade d by Dte. of Printing at Governm ent of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi -110054.
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