MOFCOM's spokesperson Gao Feng. Photo: Li Xuanmin/GT

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has decided to continue imposing anti-dumping duties on single-mode optical fibers imported from India, in order to avoid harming China's domestic single-mode optical fiber industry, according to an announcement published on the MOFCOM website on Thursday.

The duties will be renewed on Friday and remain in place for five years, with tariffs ranging between 7.4 percent and 30.6 percent depending on the specific Indian manufacturers, the notice said.

The decision came after MOFCOM evaluated the possible damage to Chinese industries if anti-dumping measures are terminated, at the request of the domestic single-mode optical fiber industry on 13 August, 2019. 

The duties would remain in force pending the outcome of the review, according to the Anti-Dumping Agreement of World Trade Organization.

After a one-year investigation it ruled that if the measures are terminated, the dumping of imported single-mode optical fibers from India may continue and Chinese domestic industries subsequently will be impacted.

Single-mode optical fibers are mainly used in high-speed, long-distance network transmission, cable television, and fiber-to-the-home connections.

On August 13, 2014, MOFCOM decided to impose anti-dumping duties on imported single-mode optical fibers from India, a decision which was valid for five years.

The list of products subject to the renewed anti-dumping duties and tax rate are consistent with the No. 56 Announcement issued by MOFCOM in 2014.

The anti-dumping investigation into single-mode optical fiber imports from India was in line with Chinese law and WTO principles, experts said.

As India is increasingly protecting its own market, other countries will inevitably take corresponding measures, Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"China is an important producer of optical fiber products and has great demand for raw materials. The anti-dumping duties could lose Indian companies their competitiveness in the Chinese market, helping China protect its own industry," Zhao said.