China’s emergence as an economic power has threatened indigenous industries all over the world and many governments have stepped up their efforts to ward off economic threats to their industries at home. In a normal situation, every government encourages the import of different items from foreign countries to meet the local requirements, but restrictions are also imposed on the import of certain items to protect the local industry. However, if the import of the restricted items is allowed, anti-dumping or countervailing duties are imposed on the items by the authorities concerned. Dumping means selling goods abroad at a price below that charged in the domestic market and China is sending all kinds of products all over the world.
China is emerging as a major trade partner of Pakistan and Chinese products are available in every nook and corner of the country. However, the wholesale imports from China have alerted the local authorities on the matter of imports of certain items. According the sources at the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) no suggestion has been received from the National Tariff Commission for the last many months as no anti-dumping duty has been imposed on certain items imported from China. In principle, the Model Customs Collectorates (MCCs) of the FBR have been authorised to collect anti-dumping duties from the importers. As no anti-dumping duty has been imposed on items dumped in the country, only the importers are the sole beneficiaries. The national exchequer is facing millions of rupees losses which it would have collected from the importers. The step of delaying the imposition of duties is also hitting the local industry. The government must complete the staff of the National Tariff Commission on permanent basis. In the current situation, the commission is unable to take any vital decision.
