Anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard duties

Trade remedies are extra import duties that protect Indian producers from unfair or sudden competition. They come on top of the normal duties, and they apply only to the goods a notification describes.

• Anti-dumping duty answers dumping: goods sold to India below their normal value, hurting Indian producers. It names the countries and often the producers or exporters.
• Countervailing duty answers subsidies: it cancels out help a foreign government gave the exporter. It also names countries.
• Safeguard duty answers a sudden surge of imports that seriously injures Indian producers, even with no dumping. It usually covers imports from all countries, with some developing countries left out.

A safeguard duty can step down over time. For example, the safeguard duty on certain steel flat products notified in December 2025 was set to fall from 12% in its first year to 11.5% and then 11%, and not to apply to imports at or above set CIF prices. Check the live notification before you rely on any rate.

1. 1Indian producers usually start a case by applying to the DGTR, an office of the Commerce Ministry.
2. 2DGTR starts an investigation and sends questionnaires to foreign producers, Indian importers and users of the product.
3. 3It may give preliminary findings and recommend a provisional duty, then final findings that recommend a definitive duty, or none.
4. 4The Finance Ministry considers the findings and, if it imposes a duty, issues a customs notification. CBIC publishes it.
5. 5The duty lasts for the period the notification sets, often five years for anti-dumping, unless it is revoked or changed earlier. Reviews can extend, change or end it.

1. 1Search by your HS code, then read the description in the notification's table. The duty is on the goods described; many notifications leave out certain grades, sizes or uses.
2. 2Check the country of origin and the country of export. The table gives a rate for each combination, and goods routed through a third country can still be caught.
3. 3Check the producer and exporter. Some notifications give named producers their own rate and set a separate rate for everyone else.
4. 4Check the dates: the duty applies only while the notification is in force.
5. 5Check the unit and currency. Many anti-dumping duties are a fixed amount per tonne or kilogram in US dollars, converted at the customs exchange rate on the day the bill of entry is filed.

The named producer's rate applies only when your goods match that row of the table, so ask your supplier who made the goods and keep proof of it.

• DGTR publishes new investigations, findings and reviews on dgtr.gov.in. Users of the product can take part in a case.
• DGTR's cases include sunset reviews, which look at whether an expiring duty should continue, and anti-circumvention cases, which look at whether a duty is being avoided.
• The duties themselves are in Finance Ministry notifications, which CBIC publishes.
• As an exporter, you can face the same kinds of duty abroad. DGTR also supports Indian exporters in cases other countries bring against them.