Recently, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against India on duties imposed by India against certain Japanese steel products. The provisional safeguard duty of 20 percent on import of certain categories of Japanese steel to protect domestic producers was adopted by the Indian government in September 2015 despite a comprehensive free trade agreement that was established between the two countries in 2011. Later, the duty was reduced, and it ended on March 2018. Japan filed the case in the WTO against India in December 2017.
While the duty is no longer in place, India notified the WTO Appellate Body of its decision to appeal the ruling as it could limit its ability to establish future protective measures should it determine it necessary. In fiscal year 2017-2018, the bilateral trade between the two countries was approximately US $16 billion in favor of Japan as the trade deficit was calculated at US $11 billion in the period.