India’s Ministry of Commerce opposes the enhancing of tariff barriers on steel imports and instead favors non-tariff barriers, including widening compliance to standards across more product categories, a ministry official said on Tuesday, January 26.
The official said that, in an inter-ministerial communication between the commerce and steel ministries, the former suggested that tariff barriers like antidumping, safeguard duty and minimum import price (MIP) do not work in the long term and risked a backlash in the World Trade Organization (WTO) from exporting countries.
The Ministry of Commerce is also considering a review of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea and incorporating compliance of standards on imported steel within the framework of the agreement, which it considers a “more practical and mutually acceptable” measure to check imports, the official said.
The official said that the commerce ministry will seek a mid-term review of the FTA with South Korea and attempt to include standards for steel imports within the terms of the agreement, as India could not go back on lower import rates for steel imports as signed between the two countries.