Domestic steel industry has urged the government to raise the import duty on stainless steel flat products to 12.5% % and has demanded countervailing duty on cheaper imports from China.
In order to get the protection from cheaper Chinese imports, domestic manufacturers have urged the government to increase import duty on stainless steel products by 5% from 7.5% to 12.5%.
As per our customs data, in 2015-16, out of the country’s total domestic demand of 24 lakh tonnes, imports accounted for 25%. Also since 2011 – 2012 India’s import shipments of stainless steel products have moved up by 50%
Stainless steel is majorly used in consumer durable goods,automobiles,building and engineering industry.
Domestic manufacturers are pushing the government to raise basic customs duty on stainless steel flat products from 7.5 % to 12.5% which will make it at par with at import duty on carbon steel.
Besides this,the industry participants are demanding that the import duty on raw materials required to manufacture stainless steel should be made zero in order to make domestic prices more competitive.
According to industry participants, with various trade restrictions such as MIP (Minimum Import Price), anti-dumping duty and higher import duty in place for carbon steel, imposing trade barriers on stainless steel products which is also reeling under pressure from cheap imports, is need of the hour.
Out of India’s total stainless steel imports, Chinese imports accounted for 50% for the year 2015-16 and China’s percentage share has grown two-fold in last two years.Thus ISSDA (Indian Stainless Steel Association) is also demanding provisional countervailing duty on imports of HRC and CRC flat products of stainless steel from China.
However, these protectionist measures demand by the industry is only for the short span of 1-2 years so that industry can meet interest payments and can bear their debt obligations.
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