Thailand gold may hit India's anti-dumping wall

The Indian government is considering imposing anti-dumping measures, usually associated with low-value commodities, on import of gold jewellery from Thailand as part of several remedial options being considered to battle a problem that has been giving policymakers a headache in recent months, Economic Times reported.

Rising gold imports, a lot of it from Thailand because of the low Customs duties payable on imports from that country, have been cited as the biggest contributor to India’s worsening external sector numbers, notably the current account deficit that vaulted to 5.4 per cent of GDP in the September quarter. This number, which is even higher than what it was at the height of the balance of payments crisis in 1991, has got policymakers and ratings agencies ring alarm bells and contributed to the pressure on the rupee.

"We are assessing the dumping of gold jewellery from Thailand. We will look into the remedial measures that can be imposed as per the Early Harvest Scheme with Thailand," one official told the newspaper.

The Early Harvest Scheme, signed in 2004 and covering 82 items, provides for a host of remedial measures, which include anti-dumping duties, safeguard duties and even suspension of imports in extreme cases if there is a serious injury to domestic industry or in case of rampant misuse of the treaty terms.