Beijing extends duties on Indian optical fibre for another five years

China will keep its anti-dumping duties on imports of single-mode optical fibre from India for a further five years. The announcement came from the Chinese commerce ministry and was reported by the Xinhua news agency. The measure takes effect on 14 August.

The decision follows a review opened in August 2025. The ministry concluded that, if the duties were removed, the continuation or return of dumping by Indian imports would be likely, with renewed harm to the Chinese optical fibre industry.

The rates company by company

The rates remain between 7.4 and 30.6 per cent and vary by exporter. Sterlite Technologies pays 7.4 per cent, Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics 11.4 per cent, and Corning Technologies India and other Indian companies 24.5 per cent. The highest rate, 30.6 per cent, applies to Aksh Optifibre and Finolex Cables.

The duties are not new. Beijing first introduced them in 2014, with the same range of 7.4 to 30.6 per cent, and had already extended them in 2020. With this decision, protection of the Chinese domestic market in this segment spans more than fifteen years.

The product concerned is single-mode optical fibre, used in high-speed and long-distance networks, including internet access networks. It is a basic component of telecommunications infrastructure, and demand for it grows with the spread of broadband and the expansion of data centres.

The measure involves two economies that are at once industrial competitors and very large trading partners. It should also be read in the wider context of rising trade barriers, which have affected numerous sectors over the past two years and which indirectly hit Swiss exporters active in components and machinery.