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IPCPA demands 3% safeguard duty on copper imports of certain categories

15 Dec 2025 Evaluate

The Indian Primary Copper Producers Association (IPCPA) has warned that zero-duty copper imports under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are ‘severely damaging’ India’s smelting and downstream manufacturing sector, even as over Rs 20,000 crore has been invested in recent years to achieve self-sufficiency. Therefore, it sought immediate government interventions in the form of a safeguard duty and quantitative restrictions on inbound shipments from overseas. 

IPCPA demanded that a 3 per cent safeguard duty should be imposed on copper imports of certain categories, irrespective of the FTA status. It flagged concerns about the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), under which customs duties on copper wire rods have fallen to one per cent in FY26, and the levy is expected to be fully eliminated by FY27. It said the problem worsened due to an inflated Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) of 85,000 tonnes per annum (KTPA) -- far above the intended 29 KTPA -- triggering a 340 per cent surge in imports from the UAE between FY22 and FY26. It added that the tariff rate quota should be corrected and capped at its original level. The tariff rate quota mechanism allows certain quantity of imports at a reduced or zero duty. 

The association further said that the India-ASEAN CEPA includes a cumulative value-addition rule that permits Indonesian copper cathodes -- after significant processing in Indonesia -- to receive only minimal further treatment in Thailand, Malaysia, or Vietnam before entering India duty-free. From 2020 to 2024, this provision drove a 66 per cent surge in copper wire imports and a 103 per cent increase in copper tube imports.  

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