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India targets Chinese shipments with new tariff on steel imports

Effective immediately for 200 days, the tariff marks India’s first major trade policy shift since Donald Trump’s global tariff impositions

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An employee works at a steel bar manufacturing facility in the western Indian state of Gujarat on April 7. Photo: Reuters
Reuters
India, the world’s second-biggest producer of crude steel, has imposed a 12 per cent temporary tariff on some steel imports, locally known as a safeguard duty, to curb a surge in cheap shipments primarily from China.

A flood of Chinese steel in recent years has pushed some Indian mills to scale down operations and mull job cuts, and India is one of a number of countries to have contemplated action to stem imports to protect local industry.

The Ministry of Finance said in an official order that the duty would be effective for 200 days from Monday, “unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier”.

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The move is New Delhi’s first big trade policy shift since US President Donald Trump imposed a wide range of tariffs on countries in April, kicking off a bitter trade war with China.
A worker stacks pressed steel items at a factory which produces metal products for export in China’s eastern Shandong province on April 15. Photo: AFP
A worker stacks pressed steel items at a factory which produces metal products for export in China’s eastern Shandong province on April 15. Photo: AFP

Tensions over cheap steel imports into India predate that, with the investigation behind the latest move beginning in December.

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India’s Steel Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said in a statement the measure is aimed at protecting domestic steel manufacturers from the adverse impact of a surge in imports, and will ensure fair competition in the market.

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