The Indian domestic steel industry represented by the Indian Steel Association (ISA) has sought tariff protection in the national budget to be placed before India’s parliament on February 1, against the import of steel products at “predatory pricing”, a statement of the association said on Thursday, January 26.
Among the measures sought by the ISA in Budget 2023-24 are an increase in the basic custom duty of 7.5 percent at present to 12.5 percent on flat products and to 10 percent on long products, levels that prevailed earlier until February 2021.
It is also seeking 25 percent countervailing duty on all steel imports to prevent dumping of products in the country by overseas sellers.
The move to seek higher tariff protection comes in the wake of India becoming a net importer of steel in the third quarter (October-December) of the fiscal year 2022-23, when inward shipments increased by 65 percent year on year.
However, several industry analysts said that the country moving to become a net importer of steel was more a fall-out of the sharp fall in exports of steel particularly from the impact of the 15 percent export tax levied by the government in May 2022 and subsequently withdrawn in November 2022.
This was reflected in steel exports slumping by 65 percent during the April-November period of 2022, the analysts said, citing official data of the ministry of steel.