NEW DELHI, Mar 30: Government today extended the safeguard duty on some steel imports by two years, till March 2018, to protect domestic industry from onslaught of cheap supplies from China amid a global glut.
The duty will however be reduced to 10 per cent in stages over the next two years.
The government had first imposed the safeguard duty in September last year. Last month a floor price on imports was set to deter countries like China from undercutting domestic industry, the first such move in more than 15 years.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in a notification said the 20 per cent safeguard duty would apply on import of “hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy Steel in coils of a width of 600 mm or more” till September 13, this year.
The duty would drop in stages to 10 per cent for the six months through March 2018. It will be 18 per cent for period between September 14, 2016 to March 13, 2017; 15 per cent during March 14, 2017 to September 13, 2017; and 10 per cent during September 14, 2017 to March 13, 2018.
Facing domestic economic downturn, China had last year raised its exports of steel products, leading to new duties in several markets like India and the European Union, as well as anti-dumping investigations.
CBEC said the Director General (Safeguard) had in its preliminary findings on September 9, 2015 had come to the conclusion that increased imports of these steel products into India has “caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry and producers”.
Thereafter provisional safeguard duty for 200 days with effect from September 14, 2015 was imposed.
In its final findings, Director General (Safeguard) has recommended the imposition of safeguard duty for a period of two years and six months from the date of levy of provisional safeguard duty.
The safeguard tax will not be imposed on steel products imported at or above the floor price, CBEC said. (PTI)
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