Govt slaps safeguard duty on certain steel imports

Government has slapped safeguard duty on import of certain steel products to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap in-bound shipments.

The safeguard duty has been imposed on import of hot rolled flat sheets and plates (excluding hot rolled flat products in coil form) of alloy or non-alloy steel.

The effective duty rate would be calculated after deducting the value of the goods and the anti-dumping duty payable when the import price is below USD 504 per tonne, said a Revenue Department notification.

The duty arrived at would be 10% in the first year and will gradually reduce to 6% by 2019, it said.

A 10% ad valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable will be imposed on imports up to November 22, 2017. This will be lowered to 8% between November 23, 2017 and November 22, 2018.

A "six percent ad valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable, if any, (will be imposed) when imported during the period from November 23, 2018 to May 22, 2019 (both days inclusive) at an import price below USD 504 per ton on CIF basis," it added.

The Director General (Safeguard), in his final findings on August 2, 2016, "had come to the conclusion that increased imports of subject goods into India has caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic producers of subject goods, thereby necessitating the imposition of safeguard duty on imports of the subject goods into India."

Earlier this month, government had imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of steel wire rods from China for six months.

An anti-dumping duty equivalent to the difference between the landed value of steel products and USD 499 per tonne will be imposed on products exported by Minmetals Yingkou Medium Plate Co Ltd. In case of other producers, the anti-dumping duty would be the difference between the landed value and USD 538 per tonne, a government notification of November 2 had said.

The 'landed value' of imports was defined as the assessable value as determined by the customs and includes all duties of customs.

India previously slapped anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four nations, including China and South Korea.

Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.

India has initiated maximum anti-dumping cases against "below-cost" imports from China.