On 28 Oct’ 15, a petition was filed by SAIL, Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd for imposition of safeguard duty on imports of “Hot Rolled flat sheets and plates (excluding hot rolled flat products in coil form) of alloy or non alloy steel having nominal thickness less than or equal to 150mm and nominal width of greater than or equal to 600mm”.
The product under consideration were classified under Tariff Heading 7208 and 7225 (722540413, 72254019, 72254020, 72254030 and 72259900).
The public hearing on the case was held in Feb’16 and after five months, on 2 Aug’16 the government announced safeguard duty that is to be levied on imports of HR plates and sheets.
The government has decided a reference price of USD 504/MT for the above mentioned products and any import below the reference price will attract safeguard duty as per the below table:
|
Year |
Duty Recommended |
| 1st Year | Safeguard duty @10% ad valorem (minus Anti-dumping duty, if any) on the import of PUC imported at a price below USD 504/MT. |
| 2nd Year | Safeguard duty @ 8% ad valorem (minus Anti-dumping duty, if any) on the import of PUC imported at a price below USD 504/MT. |
| 3rd Year (for 6months) | Safeguard duty @ 6% ad valorem (minus Anti-dumping duty, if any) on the import of PUC imported at a price below USD 504/MT. |
An important point that has been notified in the final findings of DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) is that the imports of products under consideration (PUC) from all developing countries except China and Ukraine will not attract any safeguard duty. The reason being PUC imports from developing nations accounts for less than 9% of the total PUC imports.
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