India's Directorate General for Trade Remedies (DGTR) has officially recommended a temporary 12% safeguard duty on imports of flat steel products for a period of 200 days. This recommendation, which was announced on March 19, aims to protect the domestic steel industry from the impact of increased imports.
According to a government notification, the DGTR believes that a provisional safeguard duty of 12% is necessary to eliminate the serious injury and the threat of injury to the domestic steel industry. The notification outlines that this duty will be applied to several steel products, including hot rolled coils, sheets and plates, HR plate mill plates, cold rolled coils and sheets, metallic coated steel coils and sheets, and both profiled and non-profiled colour coated coils and sheets.
The DGTR pointed out that there has been a recent, sudden, sharp, and significant increase in imports of these steel products into India, which has resulted in serious damage to domestic producers. The authority emphasized that there are critical circumstances where any delay in imposing provisional safeguard measures could cause damage that would be difficult to repair, highlighting the immediate need for these measures.
The DGTR has invited comments on the findings within 30 days, after which an oral hearing will be held before a final decision is made.
This action follows the government’s decision in December last year to launch an investigation into whether a safeguard duty or temporary tax should be imposed to curb steel imports. Domestic steel producers had previously called for a 25% safeguard duty to protect the industry.
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