The government is considering imposing anti-dumping duty of up to 236 US Dollars per tonne on imports of a chemical used in bricks, tiles and ceramics. This will be done to protect the domestic industry from cheap Chinese shipments. The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties ,DGAD, has concluded in its findings that 'Barium Carbonate' is exported by China to India below its normal value. The nodal agency, DGAD, under the Commerce Ministry is of the view that imposition of definitive duty is required to offset the dumping. Acting on complaints from the domestic industry, DGAD had initiated probe into the dumping of the chemical from China which increased to 25,513 tonne in 2008-09 from 13,539 tonne in the previous fiscal. AIR correspondent reports that unlike safeguard duties, which are levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duties vary from product to product and country to country. Countries initiate anti-dumping probe to check if their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a counter measure, they impose duties within the multilateral regime of the WTO. Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level playing field to the domestic industry. It is not a measure to restrict imports or cause unjustified increase in cost of products.