In order to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports, the government has imposed safeguard duty on import of hot rolled flat sheets and plates (excluding hot rolled flat products in coil form) of alloy or non-alloy steel with effect from November 23, 2016 till May 22, 2019. The Revenue Department said that the effective duty rate would be calculated after deducting the value of the goods and the anti-dumping duty payable when the import price is below $504 per tonne.
As per the government notification, a 10 percent ad valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable will be imposed on imports up to November 22, 2017 and this will be lowered to 8 percent between November 23, 2017 and November 22, 2018. It added that a 6 percent ad valorem minus anti-dumping duty payable will be imposed when imported during the period from November 23, 2018 to May 22, 2019 (both days inclusive) at an import price below $504 per tonne on CIF basis.
The Director General (Safeguard), in his final findings on August 2, 2016, had concluded that increased imports of subject goods into India has caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic producers of subject goods, thereby necessitating the imposition of safeguard duty on imports of the subject goods into India. Recently, government had imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of steel wire rods from China for six months.