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The Bangladesh Jute Mill Association has urged the government to involve the World Trade Organisation against a move by India on extending antidumping duty.
The call came after India launched a Sunset Review on July 9 to evaluate the present status of the sector and asked Bangladesh and Indian exporters and producers to submit their comments within July 20 in this regard.
In January 2017, India imposed anti-dumping duty on Bangladesh’s jute yarn, hessian and bags, ranging between $19 and $352 per tonne, for five years to protect their domestic industry.
Due to the anti-dumping duty, Bangladeshi jute producers and exporters faced huge challenges in trading with India, which also put a negative impact on the total export.
However, the Sunset Review was started just six months before the expiry of the five-year duty order.
“Earlier, the Indian government imposed an anti-dumping duty on jute products, now they are trying to extend it further. We are assuming that they want to halt our growing production of finished jute goods,” Syed Ali Alfe Sany Akash, director of Bangladesh Jute Goods Exporters Association (BJGEA) told The Business Post on Friday.
On July 28, BJMA sent a letter to the commerce minister to raise the issue with the WTO before review.
“It’s a completely unethical decision as our miller can’t export finished jute goods, except for raw jute, to India. They want that we export only raw jute and they will make jute goods from our raw materials; healthy competition is always appreciated in the international market,” he added.
BJMA also believes that if the government brings in WTO into the negotiations, there was a high chance that the government of India may not be able to extend the anti-dumping duty further.
“This is because both Bangladesh and India are members of WTO and are bound to follow rules and guidelines of the global trade body,” BJMA Secretary A Bakir Khan told The Business Post.
However, BJMA leaders also fear that if WTO is not brought into the dialogue, India might find ways to extend its duty for Bangladesh and Nepal for another five years.
Meanwhile, exporters pressed hopes that if the government succeeds in withdrawing the anti-dumping extension, Bangladeshi millers will be motivated to increase their production and boost the country’s jute sector further in the long run.
“We exported jute goods worth around $300 million before anti-dumping was introduced in India, which came down to only $50 million presently,” said BJMA Chairman Mohammed Mahbubur Rahman Patwari.
“So, the government should talk to the Indian government and WTO to stop extension of this duty. However, we are yet to receive any response from Ministry of Commerce in this regard,” said Mahbubur.
Similarly, BJGEA Director Esrat Jahan told The Business Post, “If India extends the anti-dumping duty, Bangladesh should stop export of raw jute to India and support us locally to create a new market. Already, we sent a letter to the jute minister to stop export of raw jute till December this year.”
Talking to The Business Post, high officials of the commerce ministry said the government has been very concerned over the issue and were working to find a solution.
“We have received the letter from BJMA. We will talk with the concerned ministries, including foreign affairs, and then will decide whether to lodge a case with WTO against India or not,” Hafizur Rahman, additional secretary (WTO cell) of the Ministry of Commerce, told The Business Post.
“We will not talk to India directly on this issue,” he said.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh exported $1,161 million jute and jute goods products in the FY2020-21 with 31.63 per cent growth. In the fiscal year 2019-20, it was $883 million.
Presently, India is the largest producer of jute in the world, but Bangladesh retains its place as the top global exporter of the golden fibre.
