NEW DELHI: India is set to impose a temporary tariff, known locally as safeguard duty, of 12% on steel imports, said a government source with direct knowledge of the matter, to try and curb a surge in cheap imports from China and elsewhere.
The government would enact the tax as soon as possible, the source, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters on Monday.
India, the world’s second-biggest crude steel producer, was also a net importer of finished steel for the second consecutive year in the 2024/25 fiscal year, with shipments reaching a nine-year high of 9.5 million metric tons, according to provisional government data.
Last month, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which comes under the federal trade ministry, recommended a tariff of 12% on some steel products for 200 days, as part of efforts to stem cheap imports.
The recommendation followed an investigation from December last year over whether unbridled imports have harmed India’s domestic steel industry.
“There is clarity that the duty would be 12% and a decision is expected at the earliest,” the source said of the previously unreported plan to go ahead with the DGTR’s recommendation.
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The Ministry of Finance, which takes the final decision, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
India’s finished steel imports from China, South Korea and Japan hit a record high in the first 10 months of the financial year that ended in March.
Imports from China, South Korea and Japan accounted for 78% of India’s overall finished steel imports.
The influx of cheap steel has forced India’s smaller mills to scale down operations and consider job cuts.
India joins a growing list of countries contemplating action to stem imports.
Its leading steelmakers’ body, which counts JSW Steel and Tata Steel among members, alongside the Steel Authority of India and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India have raised concerns over imports and called for curbs.
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