Anti-dumping duty on hard ferrite ring magnets confined to competing grades with BH max 2.8 MGOe and above.

Anti-dumping duty on hard ferrite ring magnets could apply only where dumped imports of competing products caused injury to the domestic industry. The materials indicated interchangeability and competition only for magnets with energy product (BH max) of 2.8 MGOe and above, while lower grades were non-competing and not shown to injure domestic producers. Energy product was treated as a definitive techno-commercial basis for classification, so grades below that threshold could not validly be included within the levy. The notification therefore required modification to confine the duty to hard ferrite ring magnets of BH max 2.8 MGOe and above, including unmagnetised form.

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Issues: Whether anti-dumping duty on hard ferrite ring magnets could validly extend to all grades and sizes, including grades not manufactured in India, and whether the product could be classified by reference to energy product (BH max) so as to exclude non-competing varieties from the levy.

Analysis: Anti-dumping duty can be imposed only where dumped imports are shown to have a causal connection with injury to the domestic industry. The materials before the Tribunal showed that interchangeability and competition existed in relation to hard ferrite ring magnets of energy product (BH max) 2.8 MGOe min and above, and not in relation to lower grades. Energy product (BH max) was treated as a definitive and distinguishing characteristic of the goods, providing a sound techno-commercial basis for classification. Since imports of grades below 2.8 MGOe min could not injure the domestic industry, there was no justification for including those grades within the scope of the duty.

Conclusion: The levy could not extend to grades of hard ferrite ring magnets not produced in India, and the notification required modification to confine the anti-dumping duty to hard ferrite ring magnets of energy product (BH max) 2.8 MGOe and above, including in unmagnetised form.

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