India imposes safeguard duty on steel to protect domestic industry

The government has imposed a safeguard duty on certain steel products to shield the domestic industry from a sharp, sudden increase in imports. The action follows a DGTR probe that found a threat of serious injury to local producers.

The government has imposed a safeguard duty on certain non-alloy and alloy steel flat products to protect the domestic steel industry from a sharp rise in imports, according to an official gazette notification issued by the government on Tuesday.

DGTR Finds Threat to Domestic Producers

The notification said the decision follows an investigation by the Director General (Trade Remedies) (DGTR), which found that imports of specific steel products had increased in a "recent, sudden, sharp and significant" manner, causing and threatening serious injury to domestic producers.

Affected Steel Products

It stated, "The Central Government after considering the said findings of the Director General (Trade Remedies), hereby imposes on the subject goods falling under tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225 and 7226 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, when imported into India."

The products covered under the safeguard duty include hot rolled coils, sheets and plates; hot rolled plate mill plates; cold rolled coils and sheets; metallic coated steel coils and sheets including galvanneal and zinc or aluminium-zinc coated products; and colour coated coils and sheets.

Duty Timeline and Rates

As per the notification, a safeguard duty of 12 per cent ad valorem will apply on imports of the specified steel products from April 21, 2025 to April 20, 2026. The duty will reduce to 11.5 per cent from April 21, 2026 to April 20, 2027, and further to 11 per cent from April 21, 2027 to April 20, 2028.

Background on Provisional Duty

Based on the DGTR's preliminary findings, the central government had earlier imposed a provisional safeguard duty for 200 days starting April 21, 2025. This provisional duty was notified by the Government of India through the Ministry of Finance.

In its final findings dated August 16, 2025, the DGTR concluded that the surge in imports continued to pose a serious threat to the domestic industry and recommended a longer-term safeguard measure. Acting on these findings, the government has now imposed a safeguard duty. These goods fall under tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225 and 7226 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

The notification clarified that the safeguard duty will not be levied for the period between the lapse of the provisional duty and the day preceding the publication of the final notification in the Official Gazette. (ANI)

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