A quick resolution of the dispute between
India and Japan before the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be key to pushing forward the recent joint collaboration between the two countries on steel investments and projects, a senior official at
India's Ministry of Steel said on Thursday, December 29. The ministry official said that, with Japan seeking commencement of dispute resolution consultation at the WTO on Indian measures to check steel imports, an early resolution of the dispute will determine the course of several steel project collaborations between steel companies in the two countries.
While
India's Ministry of Commerce is awaiting formal notification from the WTO Secretariat for commencement of dispute consultation, the Indian government is preparing its response based on the premise that "all steel import protection measures are temporary in nature and will be withdrawn as the Indian domestic steel industry stabilizes," the official said.
According to the official, while antidumping duties levied on imported steel products will be defended on grounds that such levies are WTO-compliant,
India is preparing to meet expected challenges from Japan on the methodology of calculation of its minimum import price (MIP).
The Indian government will seek an early resolution of the Japanese challenge before the WTO with the steel ministry official stating that Steel Authority of
India Limited (SAIL) has already announced that it has initiated talks with Japanese steel companies Nippon Steel, Kobe Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, seeking technical and project collaboration to extend SAIL's footprint in the global steel market.
In a recent media statement,
India's steel minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh said, "In my view, protectionist measures should not be there even for a month but I have to see the overall position of the industry. I have made it very clear to the domestic steel industry that on one hand we are giving this much protection, but on the other hand I want a road map where the domestic industry improves efficiencies."