Govt considering proposal to impose safeguard duty on steel imports

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The government is considering a proposal to impose safeguard duty on steel imports, Union Steel Minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Thursday.

"The process is going" on the ministry's proposal to impose a 25 per cent duty on steel imports, Kumaraswamy told PTI on the sidelines of an event here.

On December 2, the steel ministry in a meeting with the commerce department had proposed for a 25 per cent safeguard duty on certain steel products imported into the country. The steel minister and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were present in the meeting.

A final call on imposing the duty can be taken by the finance ministry on recommendations of the ministry of commerce.

Domestic steel players have been consistently raising concerns over increasing cheap imports of steel from select nations, affecting their competitiveness.

Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik last month said more than 60 per cent of steel imports come from FTA (free trade agreement) countries at nil duty and any duty hike will not have any impact on these shipments.

There is a genuine problem and the ministry is aware of that, Poundrik said.

India's steel imports were at 5.51 million tonnes (MnT) in April-September 2024-25, higher from 3.66 MnT in the year-ago period, as per research firm BigMint.

Imports from China have surged to 1.85 MnT during that period from 1.02 MnT in April-September period of financial year 2023-24, it said.