India to probe steel dumping before deciding on a duty

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is probing an alleged jump in steel imports amidst demands from the domestic steel industry to impose a safeguard duty to prevent dumping of cheap imports. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that the Commerce Ministry has received a request from the steel ministry to conduct the investigation.

As the investigation arm of the Commerce Ministry, the DGTR is currently looking at the whole value chain as part of its investigation, which will include a probe on production imbalance as well as injury to domestic industry. The probe is looking at the hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) coil steel products being imported into India. The DGTR will also consult MSME downstream industries before making any recommendations on the issue. Based on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, a final decision will be taken by the Finance Ministry on imposition of safeguard duty.

Last month, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik indicated that over 60% of steel imports come from Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partner countries at zero duty and will remain immune to any duty hike. On Dec 2, the Steel Ministry recommended imposition of 25% safeguard duty on imported steel products. Speaking to media in New Delhi on Dec 12, Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy said that consideration of a proposal is underway for imposition of Safeguard duty on imported steel. The Steel industry has been pushing for imposition of safeguard duties, noting a recent surge in imports from Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and China.