Special Tariff Set for Ceramic Tile Imports from India
WASHINGTON — There’s going to be an unfair-trade tariff on ceramic tile from India – but the rate is nowhere near what U.S. manufacturers requested.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) voted 3-0 today that India’s ceramic-tile imports (including porcelain) threatened domestic tile makers with “material injury” due to Indian government subsidies.
However, the new tariff rate will be less than 4%, or far less than the 400%-800% level sought by a U.S. manufacturer consortium in its original petition filed with the USITC 13 months ago.
The federal board originally agreed last year with The Coalition for Fair Trade in Ceramic Tile (CFTCT), which included nine U.S. chartered manufacturers, that the imports of India-made tile impacted the domestic industry.
An investigation by the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA), however, didn’t agree with the impact level asserted by the CFTCT. After reviewing data from two large tile producers in India — Antiqa Minerals and Win-Tel Ceramics Private Limited – the ITA found that subsidy levels for the two companies amounted to 3.45% and 3.06% respectively.
The rate for all other manufacturers/exporters from India will be 3.18%, an average of the tariff assigned to the two review companies.
USITC Chair Amy Karpel and Commissioners David S. Johanson and Jason E. Kearns voted for imposing the anti-subsidy tariff.
Today’s vote follows another disappointment for U.S. tile producers late last month, when the ITA gave its final word on India anti-dumping tile tariffs: zero.
A notice in the April 23 Federal Register noted that the ITA, in investigating possible sales of Indian ceramic tile below standard market levels, found no dumping practices by either Antiqa or Win-Tel Ceramics. Since the average of 0% and 0% is … 0%, there will be no tariff due to anti-dumping on any ceramic tile from India.
The decision on unfair-trade tariffs with ceramic tile mirrored what happened with unfair-trade tariffs concerning quartz-surface products from India.
A lengthy review of the original rates set on anti-dumping in 2020 led to another investigation. After reviewing data from two companies (Pokarna Engineered Stone Ltd. and Marudhar Rocks), the ITA found no evidence of the practice and rescinded the rates for more than 40 manufacturers/exporters.
The Commission’s public report on Ceramic Tile from India (Inv. No. 701-TA-720 (Final), USITC Publication 5630, June 2025) will contain the views of the Commission and information developed during the investigation. The report will be available by June 30 and will be available on the USITC website.