India may extend anti-dumping duties on more than two dozen Chinese goods, including steel and USB drives, the Hindustan Times quoted officials as saying

The move was aimed at protecting domestic manufacturers from a flood of these Chinese goods once the current duty-protection regime ends, the report said.

Vitamin E, solar cells, USB drives and steel are among the goods on which duty may be extended.

In the case of Sodium-Citrate, another import from China, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) last week recommended an extension of the anti-dumping duty. The duty protection period on the product ends May 19.

Duties on the 25 goods end at different times during this year.

The DGTR, which comes under the commerce ministry, conducts investigations into complaints filed by the domestic industry, alleging dumping of goods.

Anti-dumping duties are tariffs levied by a government on certain imported items, which it believes are priced below fair-market value. This is done to ensure that companies do not undercut local businesses by flooding domestic markets with cheaply priced goods.