Ministry of the trade recommends that you should protect on flat steel imports for three years: all you need to know

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) of the Ministry of Trade, has for three years recommended a imposition of security duties for importing some flat steel products, to protect domestic manufacturers, PTI reported on August 17. This comes after an investigation based on a complaint by the Indian Steel Association (ISA), amid concerns about the sudden increase in the infringement. The DGTR said that taking into account the current serious injury to the domestic industry, and the threatening threat of injuries due to importing subject goods, the fair selling price and, taking into account the competitive interest of all stakeholders, the government recommended to institute the duty on certain steel products. What are the recommended protection duties? In April, the government had already imposed a preliminary preliminary protection duty of 12 percent in April, based on the preliminary findings of the DGTR investigation, the report states. Now, in the notice of its final report, the DGTR has concluded that there is a recent, sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports’ of such products that can ‘do cumulative level due to unforeseen developments … and threaten to cause the domestic industry to cause serious injuries’. So it recommended: a 12 percent protection in the first year, a 11.5 percent security in the second year, and a 11 percent security in the third year. Who was looking for the duty of protection? The ISA on behalf of its members, including ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power and Steel Authority of India, has submitted an application to introduce the security of the importation of the import of non-alloy and alloying plating products. The applicant claims that there is a sudden, sharp and significant increase in the amount of imports, which caused the domestic industry in India a serious injury, according to the report. The applicant also said that imports have occurred in such increased quantities and under such circumstances that cause and threaten the domestic industry. GTRI objects to protect the duty, point to the input cost impact, the thinking tank in the industry, GTRI said that the security duties were imposed on a wide range of steel imports were imposed after the submissions of more than 250 stakeholders, including large car manufacturers and electronic firms, were rejected. It is said that the sin, which was launched in December 2024, covered hot rolled and cool-rolled products, metal and color-covered steel. The Chinese export of these items rose to 110.7 million tonnes in 2024, by 25 percent higher than 2023, and many of them were redirected to India, Gtri said. “GTRI has opposed the move, and warned that it (setting the final protection duty) will increase input costs, injure exports and push users of the downstream,” said the founder of the thinking tank, Ajay Srivastava. Gtri argued that imports are predictable, not “suddenly”; That household injury was too much; And that the duties would crash car, engineering and construction sectors, he said. (With input from PTI)