Going ahead with industry’s persisting demand for reining in the rising imports at predatory prices, the steel ministry will propose for hiking the peak customs duty on the alloy to 25% in the Budget for next fiscal from 15% now. If implemented, this would be two successive increases in the limit in as many years, though will remain within the upper ceiling of 40% allowed by WTO.
The finance ministry had raised the peak custom duty for steel to 15% from 10% earlier in the last Budget for the same purpose. But, far from restricting the burgeoning imports, it failed to make much impact. Galloping imports from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia among others is hurting domestic steel industry. The EBITDA of the domestic firms have declined by over 40% in a year.
Being sympathetic to the steel industry’s current tough time, steel ministry had suggested a gamut of trade actions since the last Budget and the finance ministry has, in fact, obliged to a lot of them including raising the import duty twice in June and in August by 2.5% each, imposing safeguard duty on select products and even levying anti-dumping duty on certain grade of stainless steel imports between $180 and $316 per tonne.
Source: Financial Express