The All Pakistan Glass Manufacturers Association (APGMA) has formally requested the National Tariff Commission (NTC) to revise its methodology in the ongoing anti-dumping investigation concerning soda ash imports from Turkiye and Kenya. The association argues that the commission has adopted an unjustified profit assumption of 10% while calculating the non-injurious price, a significant departure from the established 5% benchmark used in previous cases.
Profit Margin Discrepancy
In a representation to the NTC, APGMA Secretary General Dawoodur Rasheed stated that the commission's preliminary determination in anti-dumping case No 69/2025/NTC/SA applied an estimated profit margin of 10% of the cost to make and sell, without providing any supporting rationale, methodology, or factual basis. According to APGMA, the NTC has historically and consistently adopted a 5% profit margin in prior anti-dumping investigations while constructing the non-injurious price.
Atif Iqbal, Executive Director of the Organisation for Advancement and Safeguard Industrial Sector (OASIS), confirmed that in the ceramic tiles anti-dumping case, it remained a regular practice of the NTC that a normal profit margin of 5% was adopted for calculating the non-injurious price in cases of tiles as well as many other sectors.
Historical Precedent
The association submitted a comparative record of previous anti-dumping cases where the commission reportedly used a 5% profit benchmark. These cases include investigations involving polyester staple fibre, hydrogen peroxide, cold-rolled steel coils, PVC flooring, chlorinated paraffin wax, and cefadroxil. APGMA noted that the soda ash investigation was the first disclosed case in which a higher profit assumption of 10% had been applied, marking a significant deviation from past practice.
Impact on Injury Calculation
Dawoodur Rasheed emphasized that a reasonable profit rate of 5%, consistent with the commission's past practice, would be sufficient to address any alleged injury to the domestic industry while ensuring fairness and transparency in the injury margin calculation process. He maintained that the domestic industry had not suffered material injury warranting such an elevated profit assumption. The sudden adoption of a 10% profit rate could materially affect the calculation of injury margins in the current investigation, potentially leading to inflated duties that harm importers and downstream industries.
Request for Revision
APGMA requested the commission to review and revise the preliminary determination to ensure consistency with its established precedents and to maintain confidence in Pakistan's trade remedy framework. The association urged the NTC to revert to the 5% profit margin to avoid arbitrary and unjustified trade barriers. The outcome of this representation could have significant implications for the domestic glass manufacturing sector, which relies on soda ash as a key raw material, as well as for the broader trade remedy system in Pakistan.
