The Commerce Ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has really helpful imposition of a 12% provisional safeguard duty for 200 days on certain steel products with an purpose to guard home gamers from surge in imports.
Last yr in December, the DGTR began the investigation into the sudden surge in imports of ‘Non-Alloy and Alloy Steel Flat Products’, utilized in numerous industries, together with fabrication, pipe making, building, capital items, auto, tractors, bicycles, and electrical panels.
The investigations have been performed following a grievance from the Indian Steel Association on behalf of its members together with ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India; AMNS Khopoli; JSW Steel; JSW Steel Coated Products; Bhushan Power & Steel; Jindal Steel and Power; and Steel Authority of India Limited.
The directorate in its probe has preliminarily discovered that there’s a current, sudden, sharp and important improve within the imports of those products into India, inflicting and threatening to trigger critical harm to the home business/producers.
The directorate has stated in a notification dated March 18 that there exist important circumstances, the place any delay in software of provisional safeguard measures would trigger injury which might be troublesome to restore.
There is a necessity for fast software of provisional safeguard measures.
“The authority recommends imposition of provisional Safeguard Duty at the rate of 12% ad valorem for 200 days pending final determination on imports of the product under consideration,” the DGTR has stated in a notification.
The Finance Ministry will take the ultimate choice to impose the duty.
According to the business, the existence of great extra capability far exceeding home consumption in China, Japan and South Korea have arisen as a consequence of slowing demand in these nations.
Import of those products elevated from 2.293 million tonnes throughout 2021-22 to six.612 million tonnes through the interval of investigation (October 2023 to September 2024, and the three previous fiscal years – 2021-24).
The imports have elevated from nations together with China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.
The notification added that the target of the duty is to guard the Indian home business in opposition to the surge of imports.
While some large home steel makers are advocating for imposition of the duty, the consumer business is strongly in opposition to it because the duty would push uncooked materials costs, impacting their competitiveness.
Domestic steel gamers have raised considerations over growing imports of steel from nations like China.
However, MSME exporters from the engineering sector have acknowledged that any transfer to impose extra duties on steel imports would make home products uncompetitive and influence the nation’s outbound shipments from the sector.
Hand Tool Association Chairman S.C. Ralhan stated that the imposition of the duty would harm exports from India.
“It will be very damaging for MSME exporters and manufacturers as the duty will increase prices of steel which is a key raw material for our industry. It will make exporters uncompetitive in global markets,” Mr. Ralhan stated.
Safeguard measures within the type of duty or quantitative restrictions are commerce treatments accessible to the World Trade Organization member-countries. They are imposed to offer a level-playing area to home gamers in case of sudden and important improve in imports of a product.
The measure is used when imports of a selected product improve unexpectedly to some extent that they trigger or threaten to trigger critical harm to home producers.
These duties are relevant in opposition to all of the nations with uniform fee of duty not like the anti-dumping duties.
Published – March 19, 2025 12:08 pm IST
