India may impose a duty on jute sacking cloth from Bangladesh. The thinking is, the product is being dumped to avoid duty on jute sacking bags. Bangladesh jute mills and traders fear they would be hit hard if India imposes the duty. Usually, the anti-dumping duty on a product is the same amount by which it undercuts the domestically manufactured product.

In January 2017, India imposed anti-dumping duty on imported jute products from Bangladesh including jute yarn, twine, hessian fabric and jute sacking bags for a period of five years. So far jute sacking cloth is outside the purview of the duty. India accounts for 20 per cent of Bangladesh's jute goods exports. Some years ago, Indian jute mills had accused Bangladeshi exporters -- for the first time in 40 years -- of selling jute products at prices lower than those in India's domestic market.

Bangladesh’s jute sector, which involves about 40 lakh farmers and about two lakh workers, processes more than nine lakh tons of raw jute. The country currently has 26 jute mills. Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibers and considered second only to cotton in the amount produced and the variety of uses of vegetable fibers.