- Provisional duty to be in place for 200 days
- Special coated products with niche applications excluded
The Indian government has announced the imposition of a provisional safeguard duty of 12% ad valorem on imports of specific “non-alloy and alloy steel flat products.” This decision, detailed in a notification published in the Gazette of India on 18 March 2025, follows preliminary findings by the Director General (Trade Remedies) (DGTR).
The DGTR’s investigation concluded that there has been a recent, sudden, sharp, and significant surge in imports of flat steel products into India. This increase, according to the findings, is causing and threatens to cause serious injury to domestic steel producers.
The DGTR also highlighted the existence of critical circumstances where any delay in implementing provisional safeguard measures would lead to irreparable damage, necessitating immediate action.
Moreover, the provisional safeguard duty will be applicable to imports of specific steel flat products classified under tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225, and 7226 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
These categories include hot rolled coils, sheets, and plates; hot rolled plate mill plates; cold rolled coils and sheets; metallic coated steel coils and sheets, regardless of their profile and encompassing galvanneal, zinc-coated, aluminium-zinc coated, and zinc-aluminium-magnesium coated products; and colour coated coils and sheets, whether or not profiled.
Import price thresholds for exemptions
The notification also establishes specific import price thresholds on a Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) basis, above which the provisional safeguard duty will not be imposed. For HRC, sheets, and plates, this threshold is set at $675/t. The threshold for HR plate mill plates is $695/t, while for CRC and sheets, it is $824/t. Metallic coated steel coils and sheets, including profiled ones and those coated with galvanneal, zinc, aluminium-zinc, or zinc-aluminium-magnesium, have a threshold of $861/t. Colour coated coils and sheets, regardless of their profile, will not be subject to the safeguard duty if their import price on a CIF basis is $964/t or higher.
Furthermore, the safeguard duty will not be applicable to imports of the subject goods originating from countries notified as developing countries under the Customs Tariff Act, excluding China PR and Vietnam.
The safeguard duty will remain in effect for a period of 200 days from the date of the notification’s publication (21 April 2025), unless it is revoked, superseded, or amended earlier.
The duty will be payable in Indian currency, with the applicable exchange rate being determined by the Ministry of Finance’s notifications issued under Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, on the date of the bill of entry presentation.
Excluded steel products
The notification also provides an extensive list of steel products explicitly excluded from the scope of the safeguard duty. These include specialized steel grades like cold rolled grain oriented electrical steel (CRGO), cold rolled non-oriented electrical steel (CRNO), various coated steels (electro galvanized, tinplate, nickel coated/plated, rubber coated, zinc nickel coated, laminated electro galvanized), bi-metal steel, brass coated steel wire, CRUTONITE, INCONEL, stainless steel, aluminium coated steel, aluminium silicon coated/hot dipped aluminised silicon coated steel, hot rolled clad steel plate, nickel plated steel/strip, copper plated steel, cobalt plated steel, silver plated steel, and titanium clad plates.
Surging steel imports
India became a net steel importer of steel in 2024, with imports reaching 9.22 million tonnes (mnt), exceeding exports of 7.60 mnt, posing a major challenge to the domestic industry. Out of total steel imports India’s HRC imports were 4.48 mnt, a surge of 46% in CY’24 against 3.07 mnt in CY’23.
M-o-m, steel imports rose by 12% to reach 740,000 t in January compared with over 660,000 t in December 2024, as per provisional data available with BigMint.
Major steel exporting countries
South Korea topped the list of steel exporters to India with 2.86 mnt (2.50 mnt in CY’24), up 14% y-o-y. China came a close second with 2.76 mnt, but interestingly these volumes were up a hefty 64% from 2023 levels of 1.69 mnt, bringing its share of 30% in total imports almost on par with Korea’s 31%.
Outlook
This provisional safeguard duty reflects the Indian government’s concern over the recent surge in steel imports and its potential impact on the domestic steel industry. The move aims to provide temporary relief to local producers while a more thorough investigation is conducted.
Market participants will be closely watching the impact of this duty on import volumes and domestic steel prices in the coming days.
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