Local Indian sources have reported that in the second week of May the Indian government is likely to decide on the imposition of a safeguard duty on cheap imports of steel products from countries like China, Japan and the US.
A meeting of the department of revenue's standing board on safeguards, headed by department of commerce secretary G K Pillai, is likely to take place on May 11 to decide whether the duty should be imposed or not. The other permanent members of the board are the secretaries from the ministries of revenue, agriculture, external affairs and the department of industrial promotion and policy. As the issue in question is steel, the secretary of the steel ministry will also be participating at the meeting.
India's Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) has already recommended to the commerce ministry the imposition of a safeguard duty of 25 percent on imports of flat steel products like hot rolled coils, sheets and strips shipped below $600/mt.
The DGS's recommendation was based on its initial findings that increased imports have caused serious injury to the domestic steel industry.