The alleged misuse of provisions of the India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreement (FTA) has irked the domestic stainless steel manufacturing industry.

According to the Indian Stainless-Steel Development Association (ISSDA), there has been a nine times increase of Indonesian imports of stainless steel to India. This is on the back of “widespread mis-declarations by exporters from ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam to avail preferential tariff under the FTA,” according to a statement issued by the ISSDA.

“The menace of misdeclaration needs to be nipped in the bud. It must be mandated by the government to clear consignments, with provisional duty by taking bank guarantees, to safeguard the government revenue. Moreover, the government must initiate appropriate actions against erring importers who are not only causing loss to the exchequer but also hurting domestic industry,” KK Pahuja, President, ISSDA, said.

“Chinese investments in Indonesia are backed by the Chinese government subsidies provided to expand in overseas markets. They are also subsidized generously by the Indonesian government to attract more investments. Since there is hardly any domestic demand growth in Indonesia, all the surplus capacity thus created is being dumped in a growing market like India at an alarming rate,” Pahuja added.

The ISSDA has requested the Centre to impose an Anti Dumping Duty or a Countervailing Duty on imports of stainless-steel flat products from Indonesia, to counter Chinese imports, which are now being routed through ASEAN FTA route, the statement said.

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