News reports from India indicate that the Indian Ministry of Steel has asked the Finance Ministry to consider again the imposition of import duty on certain steel products.
In October, the Ministry of Steel initially made the proposal in question for the imposition of import duty, while also proposing the removal of export duties on some steel products.
At the time of the tax adjustment on October 31, when the removal of the export duty on steel products like pig iron, iron and steel ingots, rods, bars, long products and shapes was accepted and implemented, the imposition of import duty was put on hold to protect the interests of steel producers and consumers. This was because the Ministry of Finance calculated that import steel prices had not descended to such a level that domestic products required protection from imports.
The Indian steel industry is, however, insistent that the government should impose a 15 percent import duty on all categories of steel to avoid the arrival of cheaper import materials from countries such as China, Ukraine and Thailand during the current period of economic crisis.