India’s Department of Revenue, part of the Ministry of Finance, has issued a notification of the extension of the antidumping (AD) duty on imports of alloy and non-alloy wire rods from China until January 31, 2022, even as the Directorate General from Trade Remedies (DGTR) has commenced a ‘sunset review’ of the import protection tariff, a government official said on Thursday, August 5, quoting from the notification.
The official said that the existing AD duty on wire rod imports from China was first levied in 2017 and slated to expire in October 2021, but the DGTR has already commenced a review investigation on whether to continue the levy or not, while the application of the levy has been extended until January 31, 2022.
The official said that, according to the notification, the temporary extension could be “suspended, revoked or further extended before January 31, 2022, depending on the final recommendations of the DGTR based on its ongoing sunset review.”
Domestic steel companies like Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and JSW Limited had petitioned DGTR seeking a continuation of the AD levy on wire rod imports from China, claiming such imports continue to be dumped, causing injury to domestic producers following, which the DGTR has launched the sunset review.
In 2017, AD duty in the range of $535-546/mt was imposed on imports of wire rod from China for a period of five years.