Govt considering safeguard duty on certain steel imports

The government is considering imposing safeguard duty on certain steel imports to protect the domestic industry from the surge in shipments from countries like China and Korea.
SAIL, Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power have moved the Directorate General of Safeguard for imposition of the levy on imports of 'hot-rolled flat sheets and plates of alloy or non-alloy steel' to "protect the domestic producers" from increased imports.
"The application has been examined and it has been found that prima facie increased imports of (the product) have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic producers... And accordingly, it has been decided to initiate an investigation," the DGS said while issuing notice for the probe.

It has asked views of "all interested parties" within 30 days from the date of this notice (December 7, 2015).
Primarily, the product is imported from Indonesia, China, Japan, Korea, Russia and Ukraine.
The domestic industry has asked for immediate imposition of safeguard measures for four years in their application.

It has also made a case for imposition of provisional safeguard duty in view of "steep deterioration" in performance of the domestic industry as a result of increased imports of the product under consideration.
The imports have increased to 7,08,816 tonne in 2015-16 (annualised), from 6,01,667 tonne in 2012-13.
The applicants, which had a market share of 73 per cent in 2014-15, fell to 70 per cent during 2015-16 (A). During the same period, the market share of imports went up to 13 per cent from 12 per cent.

In September, the government had imposed a provisional safeguard duty of 20 per cent on import of hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel, which was in vogue for 200 days.
In August, the government had hiked import duty on base metals, including iron and steel, by 2.5 per cent, in a move aimed at helping domestic players battle out cheap Chinese imports after the currency devaluation by China.