The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on September 30, 2026, has initiated a sunset review of the anti-dumping duty on N,N′-Dicyclohexyl Carbodiimide (DCC) from China. The review follows an application by Clean Science and Technology Limited, the sole Indian producer of DCC, which accounts for 100% of domestic production. DCC is a chemical reagent used to link molecules in peptide synthesis and in making pharmaceuticals, including key antiretroviral and antibiotic drugs, as well as cosmetics. The duty was imposed in April 2022 after an investigation that began in 2021, and it is due to expire on 27 April 2027. Under section 9A(5) of the Customs Tariff Act, the Authority must examine whether letting the duty lapse would lead to continued or recurring dumping and injury. The review covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 as the period of investigation, with injury examined from 2022-23 onward.
The applicant argues that its improved performance is due only to the duty. Imports from China fell after it was imposed, it says, and Chinese producers have large idle capacity, with the biggest producer’s capacity alone exceeding India’s total demand. It adds that Chinese producers are export-oriented and that US trade restrictions on Chinese goods could divert exports to India, given its large API manufacturing base. Treating China as a non-market economy, the Authority constructed the normal value from the domestic industry’s cost of production plus a reasonable profit margin. Notably, the comparison with the export price showed a negative dumping margin. Even so, the Authority found enough prima facie evidence that dumping and injury would recur if the duty ended, and it opened the review.
The notification also sets out the procedure. All interested parties must register on DGTR’s SETU portal and file their submissions under case ID AD/SSR/013/2026. Filings are due within 37 days of the date the non-confidential version of the application is circulated, and extension requests must be made at least one day before the deadline. Confidential submissions need a non-confidential version and a good-cause statement, and filings without these will not be taken on record. Parties can comment on confidentiality within seven days of circulation, and non-confidential filings will be open to other parties through the portal. A party that withholds information or obstructs the investigation can be declared non-cooperative, in which case the Authority may rely on the facts available.
[SETU CASE ID - AD/SSR/013/2026]
