India imposes 12% provisional safeguard duty on steel products to curb unwanted imports – Times of India
In a bid to protect the domestic steel industry from a surge in low-cost imports, the Central government has imposed a 12 percent provisional safeguard duty on certain non-alloy and alloy steel flat products.
The move, announced by the Ministry of Steel, aims to provide immediate relief to Indian manufacturers grappling with market distortions caused by a spike in foreign steel inflows.
“…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that the safeguard duty imposed under this notification shall be effective for a period of 200 days (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier) from the date of publication of this notification.
The government has set the import prices between USD 675 per tonne to USD 964 per tonne for the five steel product categories. Any shipment imported below these import prices would attract the safeguard duty.
The safeguard duty shall not be imposed on the product categories when imported into India at or above the speficied import price on CIF (cost insurance freight) basis, according to the notification.
The product categories are Hot Rolled coils, sheets and plates; Hot Rolled Plate Mill Plates; Cold Rolled Coils and Sheets; Metallic Coated Steel Coils and Sheets; and Colour Coated coils and sheets, whether or not profiled.
Union Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy welcomed the decision, describing it as “timely and necessary” to ensure fair competition and market stability.
“This move will provide critical relief to domestic producers, especially small and medium-scale enterprises, who have faced immense pressure from rising imports,” he said.
Earlier on March 20, 2025, TOI reported that the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), the investigative arm of the Ministry of Commerce, advised the imposition of the duty for a provisional period of 200 days. According to the DGTR’s report, the measure is necessary to address “serious injury and threat” to the domestic industry arising from a sudden spike in imports.
The investigation was initiated after a petition by the Indian Steel Association (ISA), representing major domestic producers. The DGTR noted that trade diversion—caused in part by protectionist measures adopted by the United States—has led to increased inflows of steel products into India.
To prevent similar market disruptions, other nations including the European Union, South Africa, Turkey, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Tunisia had already raised import barriers in recent years.
“Any protective measure by India shall be at a level adequate to ward off trade diversion,” the DGTR noted, citing the EU’s 25% safeguard duty introduced in 2018 as a precedent.
What are safeguards measures?
Safeguard measures in the form of duty or quantitative restrictions are trade remedies available to the World Trade Organization member-countries. They are imposed to provide a level-playing field to domestic players in case of sudden and significant increase in imports of a product.
The measure is used when imports of a particular product increase unexpectedly to a point that they cause or threaten to cause serious injury to domestic producers.
These duties are applicable against all the countries with uniform rate of duty unlike the anti-dumping duties.
