India's Masterbatch Anti-Dumping Duty: Per-Producer Rates & the Landed-Cost Math (2026)

In short: India's anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese calcium-carbonate filler masterbatch (Notification 37/2025-Customs (ADD), 24 Dec 2025, five years) is producer-specific: US$ Nil to US$75/MT. Three things importers routinely get wrong: (1) Form AI does not shield you — AIFTA removes the basic duty on both masterbatch and raw powder, so the entire duty gap between the routes is the ADD itself; (2) the ADD sits inside the IGST base, so the residual rate costs US$88.50/MT in cash at clearance (US$75 ADD + US$13.50 IGST, the IGST creditable); (3) a Nil ADD rate is not immunity — a countervailing-duty investigation on the same product is due to conclude by 26 June 2026. Here is the math, rate by rate.

The duty is not one number. Notification 37/2025-Customs (ADD) sets a rate per named Vietnamese producer, with a residual rate catching everyone else:

Three reading notes:

• The rate attaches to the producer/exporter combination named in the notification table, not to the brand on the bag. Material from a named producer shipped through a trader outside the named combination can fall to the residual US$75. Before contracting, match your actual supply chain — producer and exporter — against the notification's table, line by line.
• The third column is the one to compare against powder. Masterbatch is typically ~70–85% CaCO₃; the rest is carrier resin and additives. A US$75/MT duty on masterbatch is therefore roughly US$94 per tonne of the mineral you actually wanted (75 ÷ 0.80). If you are weighing the masterbatch route against importing raw powder and compounding domestically, the contained-mineral basis is the honest comparison.
• The spread between Nil and 75 is now a supplier-selection variable. Two importers buying the same grade of Vietnamese masterbatch can face a US$75/MT cost difference purely on whose name is on the producer line. That is a gap few price negotiations can offset — which is why the duty table, not the price list, is now the first page of the sourcing conversation.

The duty build-up order for an Indian import, applied to both routes:

Two mechanics worth being precise about, because they are routinely gotten wrong:

1. AIFTA covers both products — so the FTA is not the differentiator. India's AIFTA concession schedule (Notification 46/2011-Customs, as amended by Notification 63/2016-Customs) puts both HS 3824.99 and HS 2836.50 at 0% preferential duty for Vietnam origin with a Form AI certificate. The anti-dumping duty applies in addition to whatever basic duty you pay. The consequence cuts both ways: Form AI does not rescue the masterbatch route from the ADD, and the powder route's advantage is not the FTA (the masterbatch has that too) — it is simply that no ADD exists on the powder.
2. The ADD sits inside the IGST base. Per CBIC's guidance on IGST valuation for imports, anti-dumping duty is included in the value on which the 18% IGST is computed. At the residual rate that means US$75 ADD + US$13.50 IGST on the ADD = US$88.50/MT cash at clearance. For a GST-registered importer the IGST is creditable — so the lasting P&L cost is the US$75, and the US$13.50 is working capital, not loss. Budget the cash; book the duty.

The build-up, worked. Take an assessable value of US$1,000/MT — a round number for arithmetic, not a price indication — at the residual rate, Form AI claimed on both routes:

The cash gap at clearance is US$88.50/MT; the lasting P&L gap is the US$75 ADD. And read the legal instrument itself: pull Notification 37/2025-Customs (ADD) from the CBIC site or the e-Gazette, and read your live tariff line on ICEGATE — this article decodes the table; the notification is what customs applies.

Without Form AI, both routes pay the ~7.5% MFN basic duty plus ~0.75% Social Welfare Surcharge — symmetrically. The certificate matters equally on both routes; in today's duty schedule, the ADD asymmetry is the only structural difference between them.

Status as of June 11, 2026: India's countervailing-duty (anti-subsidy) investigation into the same Vietnamese filler masterbatch — initiated 27 December 2024 — is in its final stage. The DGTR issued its disclosure statement on 20 March 2026, and the Central Government has extended the deadline for final findings to 26 June 2026. No CVD is in force today.

Why this matters even to buyers of Nil-rated material: a countervailing duty is a separate instrument under a separate law, set on subsidy findings rather than dumping margins. A producer's Nil ADD rate carries no exemption from whatever CVD may be imposed, and CVD rates will be assigned producer by producer on their own evidence. Until the final findings publish, every Vietnamese masterbatch channel carries an open duty question — the Nil-rated one included. If findings recommend a duty, a customs notification typically follows within three months; if they recommend none, the question closes.

Raw GCC powder (HS 2836.50) is outside the scope of both the ADD and the CVD investigation — both target the compounded masterbatch.

For the operational side of the switch — what powder actually demands of your line, and when staying on masterbatch is the right call — see the switching guide. For the full duty position and grade-selection guidance, see the India GCC cornerstone.

What are the anti-dumping duty rates on Vietnamese calcium carbonate filler masterbatch into India?

Notification 37/2025-Customs (ADD), dated 24 December 2025, sets producer-specific rates for five years: An Tien Industries at Nil, EuroPlast at US$31.58/MT, ADC Plastic at US$36.13/MT, VitaPlas at US$39.25/MT, and US$75/MT for all other Vietnamese producers and exporters (the residual rate). The duty applies to calcium-carbonate filler masterbatch under tariff item 3824.99.00. Rates attach to the producer/exporter combinations named in the notification table — a trader shipping a named producer's material outside the named combination can fall to the residual rate, so confirm the pairing against the notification before contracting.

Does the ASEAN-India FTA (Form AI) exempt Vietnamese masterbatch from the anti-dumping duty?

No. The two instruments are independent. With a valid Form AI certificate, Vietnam-origin masterbatch (HS 3824.99) qualifies for a 0% preferential basic customs duty under AIFTA — but the anti-dumping duty applies on top of whatever basic duty you pay, preferential or not. Form AI removes the ~7.5% MFN basic duty; it does nothing to the US$ Nil–75/MT ADD. The same is true in reverse: raw GCC powder (HS 2836.50) also enters at 0% with Form AI, and carries no ADD at all — which is why the entire duty-side difference between the two routes is the ADD itself.

How does the anti-dumping duty enter the landed-cost calculation?

The build-up order for an Indian import is: assessable value → basic customs duty (0% with Form AI, or ~7.5% MFN) → Social Welfare Surcharge (10% of the basic duty only — it is not charged on the ADD) → the anti-dumping duty (a specific US$/MT amount) → IGST at 18% calculated on the sum of assessable value plus duties plus the ADD. Note the last step: per CBIC guidance, the ADD sits inside the IGST base, so a US$75/MT ADD also generates US$13.50/MT of IGST at clearance. The IGST is creditable for a GST-registered importer, so the lasting P&L cost is the ADD itself; the IGST on it is cash flow.

If my supplier has a Nil anti-dumping rate, is the masterbatch route safe?

Not unconditionally. The Nil rate (An Tien Industries) removes the ADD for that producer's named channel — but India is separately running a countervailing-duty (anti-subsidy) investigation on the same Vietnamese masterbatch, initiated 27 December 2024, with final findings due by 26 June 2026 after a Central Government extension. A CVD is a separate duty under a separate law: a Nil ADD rate does not exempt a producer from whatever CVD may be imposed, and CVD rates are set producer by producer on subsidy findings, not dumping margins. Until the CVD outcome is published, every Vietnamese masterbatch channel — including the Nil-rated one — carries an open duty question.

Is importing raw GCC powder a legitimate way around the duty?

Yes — it is a different product, not a loophole. The duty's product scope is the compounded filler masterbatch under HS 3824.99; raw ground calcium carbonate powder is classified under HS 2836.50 in a different tariff chapter, enters at 0% under AIFTA with Form AI, and carries no anti-dumping duty and no pending CVD. The trade-off is operational, not legal: using powder means doing the compounding step in India — carrier resin, dispersion, quality control — which suits some converters and not others. Classify honestly: the powder route applies to actual powder imports, not to masterbatch declared as powder.

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Sourcing Vietnamese filler — masterbatch or raw powder — into India? Tell us your application, current supplier route, monthly volume, and destination port, and our team will respond with the duty position for your specific channel, a matching grade, and the documentation (Form AI, per-lot CoA) to support it.

We supply premium GCC (ground calcium carbonate) — as raw powder and as filler masterbatch, coated and uncoated, high-whiteness (approaching 98%) — sourced directly from Vietnam, alongside China-origin resin, handled as one relationship.

Regulatory status verified against the DGTR case record as of June 11, 2026; tariff and GST rates cross-checked against notification texts and tariff databases. Duty positions change — confirm your specific line on ICEGATE or with your customs broker before contracting.

See also: India's ADD on Vietnamese Masterbatch: Why Importers Are Switching to Raw GCC Powder · Switching from Masterbatch to Raw GCC Powder: What Changes on Your Line · India Polymer Import Documentation: HS Codes, CoO, CoA · India Market Hub.