Differences have surfaced between India’s steel and commerce ministries over import protection measures for the domestic steel industry.
On August 1, the newly-appointed steel minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh said in a statement, “I am new in the Ministry of Steel. But at least I know that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has not interfered with the imposition of the minimum import price (MIP). They have not raised any objection.” However at the same time, the minister reiterated in his statement that “there has to be a roadmap for the import protection measure as the MIP cannot be permanent.”
An official from the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday, August 3, that “in a meeting of the Goods Council of the WTO, members including the US, the European Union, Japan, China and Australia asked India to justify the continuation of the MIP and that the Ministry of Commerce is bound to take notice of the proceedings of the meeting and reply appropriately.”
The Ministry of Commerce official said that differing stances of the two ministries is likely to impact the taking of a decision on extending the MIP which is scheduled to expire on August 5 and even the revision of the list of products covered by the import protection measure.