India Opens Anti-Dumping Probe into Clavulanic Acid from China and EU

India opened an anti-dumping investigation on Sept. 30, 2026 into clavulanic acid and its amine salt from China and the European Union.

India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) opened an anti-dumping investigation on Sept. 30, 2026 into imports of clavulanic acid and its amine salt from China and the European Union¹.

The case was filed by Kinvan Private Limited, which says it is the only Indian maker of the product covered by the case². The investigation could lead to an extra import duty on the goods from both origins.

In short, India is checking whether Chinese and European suppliers sell a key antibiotic ingredient in India below its fair price. No duty applies yet, but shipments from China and the EU could face one if the case ends with a duty recommendation.

What is the clavulanic acid investigation about?

An anti-dumping duty is an extra import tax on goods sold abroad below their normal price. DGTR, the trade remedies office of India’s commerce ministry, runs these cases and recommends duties². The government then decides whether to apply them.

The notice was printed in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1, No. 303, dated Sept. 30, 2026¹. Its file number is F. No. 6/51/2026-DGTR and its case number on DGTR’s online filing system is AD/OI/054/2026¹.

Kinvan has asked for anti-dumping duty on imports of the goods from China and the EU². It says the low-priced imports are holding back the start of its new business in India.

Which antibiotic ingredients are covered?

The case covers clavulanic acid, also called potassium clavulanate, and its intermediate amine salt². Clavulanic acid is an active pharmaceutical ingredient, the part of a medicine that does the work. It helps antibiotics work against bacteria that resist them².

Drug makers mix it into penicillin-class antibiotic medicines to make them work better². The amine salt is an earlier stage of the same chemical. Factories purify it and add carriers to turn it into the finished ingredient².

The ingredient comes in different grades, depending on the carrier added²:

• Cellulose-based grades (made with micro-crystalline cellulose) go into tablets and capsules.
• Silicon dioxide grades go into syrups.
• Sterile grades go into medicine given through a drip into a vein. These are left out of the case.

Amine salts meant for making the sterile grade are also left out². So the case targets the ingredient used for tablets, capsules and syrups.

Which customs codes does the notice list?

The goods fall under Chapter 29 of India’s customs tariff, the chapter for organic chemicals². The notice gives two tariff items:

• Clavulanic acid: 2941 90 90
• Amine salts of clavulanic acid: 2931 99 90

DGTR says the goods also arrive under other codes². The codes are only a guide. They do not limit which goods the case covers. A shipment under a different code can still fall inside the case if it is the same product.

Kinvan has proposed two product control numbers, which are labels used to compare like products. They are "ACID" for clavulanic acid and "SALT" for the amine salt².

How will quantities be counted?

Kinvan filed its application in kilograms of active ingredient (KgA)². It says 1 KgA equals 2.35 kg of the diluted product.

DGTR has chosen ordinary kilograms as the unit for the case². Every party must give its quantities in kilograms. A party that keeps records in KgA must also give the kilogram figure and show how it converted it².

Why did Kinvan ask for duties?

Kinvan started commercial production on March 30, 2024 at a plant in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh². It says it is not linked to any producer or exporter in China or the EU.

Kinvan named one other Indian maker, Vardhman Chemtech Limited². That company makes only the sterile grade, which is outside the case. DGTR therefore found that Kinvan makes 100% of Indian production of the goods covered².

The company says it has not reached its planned production, sales, use of its factory or profits². It blames the strong presence of low-priced imports in the Indian market. It says it sells below cost to keep production going, and it has made losses².

DGTR calls this harm "material retardation", meaning that cheap imports slow down the setting up of a new industry². The office says the first evidence supports this claim.

How did DGTR estimate the price gap?

The case looks at imports between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026, a 12-month period². For harm to the Indian industry, it also looks at the years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25². Because Kinvan only began production in March 2024, DGTR may also check its results quarter by quarter.

To compare prices, DGTR needs a "normal value", the fair price of the goods. Kinvan asked that China be treated as a non-market economy, where home prices are not used². It estimated the Chinese normal value from the price of the goods imported into India from Mexico.

For the EU, Kinvan used selling prices reported by ChemAnalyst, a market data service². DGTR did not use either method to open the case. Instead, it built the normal value from Kinvan’s own cost of production, plus selling costs and a reasonable profit².

The export price came from import prices recorded in India’s official trade data, including freight and insurance². DGTR then adjusted this to a factory-gate price. It found the dumping margin, the gap between the two prices, was above the minimum level and significant for both origins². The notice does not give the size of the margin.

Who is affected by the clavulanic acid case?

DGTR is writing directly to the known producers and exporters in China and the EU². It is also informing the governments of China and the EU through their embassies in India. Indian importers and users of the goods known to DGTR will be told as well².

Indian drug makers who buy clavulanic acid from China or Europe are the buyers most at risk. If a duty follows, their ingredient costs for these antibiotics would rise. Exporters in China and the EU could face a duty set for each company.

Kinvan, as the only Indian producer of the covered grades, would gain price protection. The sterile-grade trade, including Vardhman Chemtech’s product, stays outside the case².

How do companies take part on the SETU portal?

All filings must go through DGTR’s online portal, SETU². DGTR may ignore papers sent by email or any other way. Every party must first register on the portal as an interested party.

Filing works in these steps²:

1. Register on the SETU portal under the company’s own name.
2. File questionnaire answers and comments under case number AD/OI/054/2026.
3. Upload two versions of each filing: one confidential and one non-confidential.
4. Mark each page at the top as "confidential" or "non-confidential".

Written parts must be in searchable PDF or Word files². All numbers, sales data and calculations must be in editable Excel files with working formulas. DGTR may treat figures sent only as PDF as incomplete, and may not use them to set a company’s own margin².

A document in another language needs a true English or Hindi translation². A page with no confidential marking is treated as public. Other parties can then read it.

When are the deadlines?

Parties may comment on the scope of the product and the product codes within 15 days of the start of the case². This period runs at the same time as the main deadline.

The main deadline is 37 days from the date DGTR shares the public version of Kinvan’s application². That date is when it is posted on SETU or sent to the exporting countries’ diplomats. Questionnaire answers and other papers are due by then.

If DGTR changes the product scope or codes later, parties get 15 more days². Any request for more time must reach DGTR through SETU at least 3 days before the deadline. Parties have 7 days to comment on other parties’ confidentiality claims after the public versions are shared².

What happens if a company does not respond?

A party that refuses to give information, or that badly slows the case, can be declared non-cooperative¹. DGTR can then base its findings on the facts it already has. It can make the recommendations it thinks right to the central government¹.

For an exporter that stays silent, DGTR’s findings would rest on data it did not supply. DGTR also tells parties to check its website and SETU often². It will post notices there on extensions, hearings, disclosures and the final findings.

SETU shows a post-initiation letter for the case, dated Oct. 5, 2026³. The notice is signed by Amitabh Kumar, the Designated Authority¹.

The clavulanic acid case is one of several opened by DGTR in late September. SETU lists another investigation opened Sept. 25, 2026 into 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) from China and the EU, another antibiotic raw material³.

Key points on India’s clavulanic acid investigation

The main facts of the case are below.

No duty applies to clavulanic acid shipments yet. The next step is the filing period on SETU, with answers due 37 days after DGTR shares Kinvan’s application².

Sources

1. ↩ DGTR-Initiation-of-Anti-Dumping-Investigation-on-Clavulanic-Acid-OCT2026.pdf https://avantiscdnprodstorage.blob.core.windows.net/legalupdatedocs/60227/DGTR-Initiation-of-Anti-Dumping-Investigation-on-Clavulanic-Acid-OCT2026.pdf
2. ↩ Initiation_Clavulanic Acid_English.pdf https://dgtr.gov.in/sites/default/files/2026-09/Initiation_Clavulanic%20Acid_English.pdf
3. ↩ Notifications | SETU https://setu.dgtr.gov.in/Notifications