The government has slapped a safeguard duty on certain steel products to protect the domestic industry from cheap imports.
The duty has been imposed on imports of hot-rolled flat sheets and plates (excluding hot-rolled flat products in coil form) of alloy or non-alloy steel. The effective rate will be calculated after deducting the value of the goods and the anti-dumping duty payable when the import price is below $504 a tonne, said a revenue department notification.
The duty arrived at will be 10 per cent in the first year and will gradually reduce to 6 per cent by 2019. A 10 per cent ad-valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable will be imposed on imports up to November 22, 2017. This will be lowered to 8 per cent between November 23, 2017 and November 22, 2018.
"A 6 per cent ad-valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable, if any, (will be imposed) when imported between November 23, 2018 and May 22, 2019 (both days inclusive) at an import price below $504 per tonne on CIF (cost insurance freight) basis," it said.
Steel makers JSW Steel, Essar Steel and Steel Authority of India had approached the directorate-general of anti-dumping and allied duties to seek safeguard measures against cheap imports flooding the local markets and putting pressure on margins. Earlier this month, the 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 $499 a tonne will be imposed on products exported by Minmetals Yingkou Medium Plate Co. For other producers, the duty will be the difference between the landed value and $538 per tonne, a notification issued on November 2 had said.
Landed value is defined as the assessable value as determined by customs and includes all duties of customs.
India previously slapped an anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four nations, including China and South Korea.
As China's economy slows down, its demand for steel has been shrinking, producing huge surplus. This in turn has forced its steel makers to increasingly push sales to the rest of the world, often at below realistic prices, allege critics.
According to the World Steel Association, China's demand for steel fell 3.5 per cent in 2015, and will shrink another 7 per cent in 2016 and 2017, taking the demand to about 626 million tonnes.
SOurce: Telegraph India