India imposes 12% safeguard duty on some steel products imports for 200 days

India on Monday imposed a 12% safeguard duty on some steel products to reduce unbridled imports, a notification of the Finance Ministry said.

"...the Central Government after considering the said findings of the Director General (Trade Remedies), hereby imposes...a provisional safeguard duty at the rate of twelve per cent ad valorem," according to a notification of the department of revenue.It said that the safeguard duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of two hundred days (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication of this notification.

India, the world's second-biggest crude steel producer, was also a net importer of finished steel for the second consecutive year in the 2024/25 fiscal year, with shipments reaching a nine-year high of 9.5 million metric tons, according to provisional government data.

Last month, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), which comes under the Commerce and Trade Ministry, recommended a tariff of 12% on some steel products for 200 days, as part of efforts to stem cheap imports.




In December 2024, the DGTR started the investigation into the sudden surge in imports of 'Non-Alloy and Alloy Steel Flat Products', used in various industries, including fabrication, pipe making, construction, capital goods, auto, tractors, bicycles, and electrical panels.

The investigations were conducted following a complaint from the Indian Steel Association on behalf of its members including ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, AMNS Khopoli, JSW Steel, JSW Steel Coated Products, Bhushan Power & Steel, Jindal Steel and Power, and state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

The directorate in its probe has preliminarily found that there is a recent, sudden, sharp and significant increase in the imports of these products into India, causing and threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry/producers.

The directorate has said in a notification dated March 18 that there exist critical circumstances, where any delay in application of provisional safeguard measures would cause damage which would be difficult to repair.

It said there is a necessity for immediate application of provisional safeguard measures.