India CBIC Customs Tariff & Trade Remedies Brief

Headline

India's Ministry of Finance imposes definitive countervailing duty on Vietnamese Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch imports for five years

Executive Summary

India's Ministry of Finance has imposed definitive countervailing duties on imports of Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch from Vietnam. Department of Revenue Notification No. 4/2026-Customs (CVD), dated September 23, 2026, follows final findings by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) that the subject goods were exported to India at subsidized prices, causing material injury to the domestic industry.

Bottom Line

The notification imposes definitive countervailing duties on Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch from Vietnam at rates between USD 9.11 and USD 69.19 per metric ton, differentiated by producer and conditioned on invoice certification. Importers sourcing from the two US Masterbatch entities are subject to the stated countervailing duty rate in the table, but the notification provides that duty shall not be collected for those producers because the combined anti-dumping and countervailing duty exceeds their injury margin. All other named producers and any unnamed or third-country-routed supplier face collection of the full countervailing duty as specified. Cresthaven reading: Indian importers of this product class who cannot produce a compliant producer-certification invoice at customs clearance are assessed the residual rate of USD 69.19 per metric ton regardless of the actual manufacturer.

Key Regulatory Signals

• Producer-Specific Duty Rates Now in Force: The notification assigns countervailing duty rates ranging from USD 9.11 to USD 22.52 per metric ton across ten named Vietnamese producers. A residual rate of USD 69.19 per metric ton applies to any producer not individually named, including goods transshipped through Vietnam from any third country. Cresthaven reading: importers sourcing from unnamed producers face a rate more than three times the lowest named-producer rate.
• Invoice Certification Condition for Named-Producer Rates: Individual duty rates for the ten named producers are conditional on presentation of a valid commercial invoice bearing a signed, dated declaration from an authorized official of the exporting entity, certifying the manufacturer's identity and address. Absent such an invoice, the residual rate of USD 69.19 per metric ton applies automatically.
• Interaction with Existing Anti-Dumping Duty Limits Collection for Two Producers: For US Masterbatch Joint Stock Company and its Hung Yen Branch (serial numbers 9 and 10), the combined sum of the countervailing duty and the anti-dumping duty imposed under the December 24, 2025 notification exceeds the respective injury margin. The notification states the countervailing duty for those two producers shall not be collected.
• Dual-Remedy Cap Preserved for Remaining Producers: For all other named producers and the residual category (serial numbers 1 to 8, 11, and 12), the combined countervailing and anti-dumping duty does not exceed the respective injury margin, and the countervailing duty is to be collected in full as specified in the table.
• Third-Country Export Route Covered: The duty applies not only to goods originating in Vietnam but also to goods originating in any country other than Vietnam and exported through Vietnam, at the residual rate of USD 69.19 per metric ton. Cresthaven reading: the coverage of non-Vietnamese-origin goods exported from Vietnam limits the scope for routing supplies through Vietnamese export channels.

Regulatory Delta

• India imposed anti-dumping duty on the same product class under a December 24, 2025 notification. This countervailing duty notification is therefore a second, layered instrument in an active dual-remedy proceeding against Vietnamese Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch.
• The notification introduces a producer-specific rate structure conditioned on invoice certification. The applicable duty rate is determined at customs clearance by documentary compliance, not solely by country of origin.
• The DGTR's final findings, published June 24, 2026, underpin this action. The notification references no coordination with a foreign trade authority.

Materiality Classification

MEDIUM — A definitive trade-remedy measure with immediate duty-collection effect on a specific product and country of origin; compliance and cost implications fall on all Indian importers of Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch sourced from or transshipped through Vietnam, but the action is product- and origin-specific rather than sector-wide.

Intelligence Outlook

Monitor the DGTR and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs for any mid-term review notification, producer-addition amendments, or circumvention inquiry filings related to this proceeding within the five-year duty period.