Centre not to impose anti-dumping duty on certain steel products

The government has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on certain steel products being imported from countries like China, Japan, and Korea, as the finance ministry has not accepted the recommendations of the directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR).

The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR had conducted a probe against imports of 'Cold Rolled/cold reduced flat steel products of iron or Non-Alloy Steel, or other Alloy Steel of all width and thickness - not clad, plated or coated' and 'Hot Rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel', following complaints filed by domestic manufacturers of the respective products.

On both these categories of steel, the directorate on September 14, 2021, had recommended the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties.

While DGTR recommends the duty, the Department of Revenue takes the final decision to impose the duties.

In separate office memorandums, the department has said that "the central government, after considering the final findings of the designated authority (DGTR), has decided not to accept the recommendations".

The directorate had concluded in its findings that cold-rolled products are being dumped by companies from China, Japan, Korea and Ukraine; and hot-rolled goods are dumped from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.

India has a free trade agreement with Japan and Korea.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting the margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers.

The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR, in India.

The imposition of anti-dumping duty is permissible under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.