Not taken any decision yet on MIP for steel: Govt

The government has not yet taken any decision on fixing minimum import price (MIP) for certain steel products, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said today amid a tussle between steel manufacturers and user industries that stand to gain from cheap imports.
"No decision," she told reporters when asked if the government has taken a decision on fixing MIP for steel.
Domestic steel manufactures have demanded fixing of the price in order to check cheap imports from countries like China. However, downstream sectors which use steel favour continuing access to low-cost imports that benefit them.
Earlier this month, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will not rush into fixing MIP.

The manufacturers argue that cheap imports are impacting them adversely and could jeopardise billions of dollars of investment by domestic steel companies.
Steel companies have taken huge loans for capacity expansion and are now under severe stress.

Iron and steel imports have dipped by 20.7 per cent to USD 1.32 billion in December 2015.
At a recent CII function, when industry asked a senior commerce ministry official whether government is considering review of the free trade agreements with Japan and South Korea, Additional Secretary in the ministry Arvind Mehta said: "There is always a provision for a review but the review has to be on very specific issues".

The review of tariff rates become a "very messy business" and it can't be done easily because "everything is linked", he had said.
"It is the process in which either both the countries would have to agree because it cannot be one sided," he said, adding that "it's no secret that many of the industries are now asking for anti-dumping duties, safeguard duties on the very same products in which very deep cuts in tariffs have been agreed to. So it is a lesson that has been learned".
The statement assumes significance as steel industry is demanding review of the Free Trade Agreements with these countries and removal of steel from the purview of these agreements.