The government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on certain value-added steel products to curb cheap imports and support the struggling domestic industry hit hard by the pandemic.

A duty of $13.07 a tonne to $173.10 tonne will be applicable for five years from October 15 on flat-rolled steel products plated or coated with an alloy of aluminium and zinc, imported from China, Vietnam and Korea. The duty will be payable in rupee, said a notification by the Department of Revenue.

The decision follows an investigation by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies, the investigative arm of the Commerce Ministry. After the probe, the Department concluded that products from these countries were exported to India below their associated normal value, which resulted in dumping and in turn impacted domestic players, it said.

While the duty comes as a major relief for the steel industry, its implementation remains key, as many countries continued to export steel to India despite the minimum import price of $489 a tonne fixed in the past.

Despite the global Covid-induced lockdown, steel imports from Japan and Korea have continued in the last two months. Many user industries imported steel under advance authorisation, whereby they pay no duty with a promise to export a similar quantity of value-added steel after a period of time.

In April, Korean steel imports into India increased 31 per cent despite the lockdown. About 70 per cent of the steel imports into India in April was duty-free, from FTA (free trade agreement) countries.

Punitive duties are also circumvented by bundling of products. This apart, China evaded duty by routing exports to India through Vietnam after a small value addition in that country.

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