India wants to restrict Chinese imports of PCBs. Automakers say not yet
to impose anti-dumping duty on printed circuit boards (PCBs) imported from China and Hong Kong. PCBs form the base of the many integrated circuits that control electronic functions in modern automobiles.
They are also widely used across sectors such as consumer durables (for TVs, refrigerators, etc.) and telecommunications (network equipment).The anti-dumping duty will increase auto companies' cost of procurement by 30% and have a cascading effect on the cost of vehicles, industry body SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) said in a letter to the ministry of commerce. Mint has seen a copy of the letter.SIAM points out several challenges in the letter in sourcing PCBs domestically, including the lack of advanced technology for producing multi-layer boards, insufficient facilities to ensure contamination-free PCBs, and a shortage of high-quality, approved materials like Shengyi S1000H required for producing chips in India.
They also mention that domestic manufacturers do not consistently produce the high-reliability PCBs needed for various “safety-critical applications". While the government is heavily incentivizing local manufacturing of ‘intelligent’ electronic components like chips, it has imposed anti-dumping duty on PCBs imported from China and Hong Kong for five years, reasoning that the boards were being imported into India ‘below normal values’ and harming the domestic industry.SIAM declined to comment on Mint's request for comment on the story.SIAM's letter further said, “PCBs are an integral functional part of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) which controls several safety and emission control systems in the vehicle.
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