India's Three Trade Measures on China PVC Now Stack
India's subsidy probe on China-origin suspension PVC widened to 13 producer groups on 6 October 2026. Underneath sits a USD 766 per ton CIF floor, plus anti-dumping duties of USD 122 to 232.
India has three separate trade measures sitting on China-origin PVC resin right now, built by different authorities at different times. The newest is a subsidy probe that on 6 October 2026 dropped its three-exporter sample and moved to calculating an individual margin for thirteen producer and exporter groups. Underneath that sits a price floor of USD 766 per ton on a CIF basis, which pushes low-priced cargoes into the restricted category until late January 2027. At the bottom sits an anti-dumping duty that has been collected for more than a year.
None of the three is new on its own. The combination is, and the combination has to be priced.
Quick answer: No new duty was imposed this month. What changed on 6 October 2026 is who gets individually examined in India's countervailing duty case, which moves that case closer to a finding that would name rates for specific companies. For a buyer the practical points sit elsewhere. A cargo priced at or below USD 766 per ton CIF cannot clear as free, so the purchase term you sign decides whether your entry passes. And the CVD questionnaire now asks about related parties in production and sales, which carries the question of who supplied the resin further than the invoice does.
1. The three layers, and who runs each one
| Layer | Authority | Instrument | Status on 9 October 2026 | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-dumping duty | DGTR, Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Case AD(OI)-30/2023, affirmative final findings 14 August 2025 | In force, five years | Suspension PVC with K value above 55 and up to 77, from China |
| Minimum import price | DGFT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry | Notification 25/2026-27, dated 24 July 2026 | Restricted, six months from publication | ITC (HS) 39041020 |
| Countervailing duty | DGTR | Investigation initiated 26 February 2026 | Investigation stage, no duty | Producer and exporter groups from China |
The layers do different work. The anti-dumping duty is a number you pay at the border. The minimum import price is a licence question at the border. The countervailing duty is a number that does not exist yet.
2. What the $766 floor actually tests
The floor is written as a value, not a tariff rate. Under Notification 25/2026-27 the import policy for ITC (HS) 39041020 moves from Free to Restricted, with one carve-out: cargoes with a CIF value above USD 0.766 per kilogram stay Free for six months from publication. Cargoes at or below that value need import authorisation.
Freight and insurance sit inside the test, which makes the purchase term a compliance decision.
| Purchase term | Where freight and insurance sit | Effect on the CIF test |
|---|---|---|
| FOB | buyer pays both, usually separately | The FOB figure sits well below the test. The assessed value has to clear USD 766 per ton once freight and insurance are added, or the entry is Restricted |
| CFR | seller pays freight, buyer pays insurance | Test figure is the CFR value plus insurance |
| CIF | seller pays both | The invoice figure is the figure that gets tested. Easiest of the three to verify before the container ships |
| Any term, value above the floor | n/a | Free under this measure. The anti-dumping duty still applies on arrival |
Two exemptions run in the same notification. The floor does not apply to imports by 100% export oriented units, units in a special economic zone, or imports under the Advance Authorisation scheme, and each carries the condition that the resin is not sold into the Domestic Tariff Area.
Six months from 24 July 2026 runs to roughly 24 January 2027. The measure can be extended, the threshold can move, or it can be replaced by an outcome in the subsidy case. Contracts priced on the assumption that this floor exists should treat late January as a decision date.
- DGFT Notification 25/2026-27, S.O. 4060(E), 24 July 2026
- Gazette summary of the same notification, CG-DL-E-24072026-274781
- Trade reporting on the minimum import price and what it changed
3. The subsidy case and why thirteen matters
India opened the countervailing duty investigation into suspension PVC from China on 26 February 2026. It moved to a three-producer sample on 25 September. On 6 October 2026 DGTR withdrew that sampling approach and will now determine an individual subsidy margin for thirteen producer and exporter groups, counting their related parties.
Groups named in trade reporting on that decision include Bohua Chemical, the Junzheng Group, Chiping Xinfa Group, Wanhua Group and Haiwan Chemical. The companies have to submit full questionnaire responses covering related parties involved in production and sales, and everything they file is subject to verification.
A wider individual assessment cuts both ways. More companies get a company-specific number, which is the outcome that makes a supply relationship defensible. It also pulls more of the Chinese supply chain into the file, and the questions about related parties follow the resin back upstream to whoever makes it.
Read the two lists against each other. The 2025 anti-dumping findings already named individual Chinese exporters and gave them individual rates. Several of those names now appear in the subsidy case.
| Chinese exporter named in the 2025 anti-dumping findings | Anti-dumping rate, USD per ton |
|---|---|
| Chiping Xinfeng (two entities) | 177 |
| Haiwan Chemical | 134 |
| Bohua Chemical | 122 |
| Companies not selected in the sample | 140 |
| All other exporters not named | 232 |
Being named in a trade remedy file is not a mark of quality. It is evidence that a regulator already holds verified cost and production data for that company, which is what a buyer asks for when a contract goes wrong.
4. The arithmetic to run before signing
India's basic customs duty on PVC went to nil for a window that closed on 15 July 2026, and the 7.5% basic duty applies again alongside the social welfare surcharge, an effective rate near 8.25% for tariff purposes. A buyer landing a cargo from China carries two border charges with two separate triggers: the floor on declared CIF value, and the anti-dumping duty on the exporter's identity.
| Trigger | What it keys on | Who controls it |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted status at the CIF floor | Assessed value, including freight and insurance | The declared value and the purchase term |
| Anti-dumping duty | Producing company and its assigned rate | Which exporter supplies the cargo |
| Countervailing duty, if imposed | A subsidy margin per producer group, not yet calculated | Not yet anyone |
| Basic customs duty and social welfare surcharge | Tariff classification and origin | Tariff code and origin declaration |
A single cargo can sit above the floor and still owe an anti-dumping duty. The two tests never merge.
5. What to do in the next two weeks
| When | Action | Keep for the file |
|---|---|---|
| This week | List every purchase order and in-transit cargo bound for India, with the declared CIF value and the supplier's producing company | One page of exposure by shipment |
| This week | Ask each supplier in writing which producing company and site appear on the certificate of analysis | Written reply per supplier |
| This week | Recalculate each cargo on a CIF basis, not an FOB basis | The recalculated sheet, freight and insurance split out |
| Before the next quotation | Decide the purchase term for India on the assumption the floor stays in place | A note in the quotation file |
| Before signing | Add a clause covering both a restricted entry and a duty imposed after shipment | The signed clause |
| Before 24 January 2027 | Check for a successor notification to 25/2026-27 | A dated note on what replaced it |
| Ongoing | If your supplier is a Chinese producer group, ask whether it received the CVD questionnaire and files as one group or several | The reply, dated |
6. Four questions for the supplier, in writing
- What purchase term will this contract use, and what will the assessed CIF value be per ton on that term?
- Which producing company and which production site will be named on the certificate of analysis?
- What anti-dumping rate does that company currently carry for India, and does it cover the grade you are quoting?
- Has your company received the countervailing duty questionnaire for case initiated 26 February 2026, and does your reply name related parties?
Question 3 is the one buyers tend to leave out, and it has a concrete answer available. The rates above are published. If the supplier cannot say which rate applies to its own material, resolve that before a container is booked.
None of this forecasts the outcome of the subsidy case. The part a buyer controls is narrower: a declared value that clears the floor, and a producing company whose rate is known in advance.
If you are supplying suspension PVC into India, send us the grade, the quantity and the destination and we will quote with the current duty position stated in writing. We usually reply within 12 hours, GMT+8.
Next: the EU and UK both opened their own PVC anti-dumping cases in 2026, which covers the registration mechanism those two systems use.
Need SG-5 to land before your next production run?
Tell us the grade, the tonnage and the destination port. We come back with a price, a specification sheet and the full document list, usually within 12 hours (GMT+8).