Is there an anti-dumping duty on imported R-134a in India?

What was imposed, precisely

The measure is a reference-price duty: if a consignment's landed value is below the producer's reference value, duty tops it up to that floor; land at or above the floor and no duty applies. It follows a DGTR investigation (F.No. 6/30/2024) that concluded Chinese R-134a was being dumped and injuring the domestic industry — the standard two-step of DGTR findings followed by a Ministry of Finance customs notification.

The producer-wise floors

Why it matters beyond customs desks

R-134a is structurally exposed: it is the automotive-AC and appliance workhorse (see the automotive guide), and DGTR's findings turned on the single-domestic-producer structure of Indian supply. A floor under Chinese import prices therefore feeds through to service-market pricing and hands pricing power back to compliant channels. It also sharpens the counterfeit risk calculus — when legitimate product gets pricier, too-cheap cylinders deserve more suspicion, not less (see why fake refrigerant is dangerous).

What buyers should actually do

Expect firmer R-134a pricing through the duty's five-year term; treat quotations dramatically below market as a red flag; and keep the origin trail — country-of-origin, brand, batch, SDS — in your purchase file, since duty-evasion via mis-declaration is the predictable response to reference-price measures. Layered on the Kigali freeze arriving in 2028, the duty is one of two independent forces pushing high-GWP HFC prices upward (the other is quota arithmetic — see the price-impact guide). Flag: duties can be reviewed, challenged or revoked mid-term; verify current status against the live CBIC tariff before contracting long-term.

How a reference-price duty actually bites (worked example)

Reference-price duties confuse because they are not a flat percentage. Two consignments make the mechanics clear. Consignment A: R-134a from Shandong Dongyue lands at US$4,100/MT. Dongyue's reference value is US$4,508, so duty = 4,508 − 4,100 = US$408/MT, lifting the effective cost to the floor. Consignment B: the same producer's material lands at US$4,600 — above the floor — so duty is zero. The design intent follows: the measure does not tax Chinese R-134a as such; it removes the ability to land it below the producer-specific floor, neutralising the dumping margin DGTR quantified while leaving fairly-priced trade untouched. Three second-order effects matter to Indian buyers. The residual rate disciplines routing: 'any other Chinese producer' pays against the US$5,251 floor, so material laundered through unlisted exporters gets the harshest treatment — one reason origin paperwork on cheap offers deserves scrutiny. Floors propagate: domestic and third-country suppliers price against the new import floor, so the service market feels the measure even on non-Chinese gas. Five years is reviewable, not guaranteed: mid-term reviews, sunset review at expiry, or a successful legal challenge can change the landscape — which is why we flag rather than forecast, and why long-term supply contracts should reference 'duties as applicable' rather than today's table.

Related: R-134a supply · Automotive AC refrigerant · HFC price impact