The measure has been undertaken to protect the domestic industry, which had complained of a surge in import of low-priced cold-rolled steel products into India.
The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties under the commerce ministry has recommended anti-dumping duties on stainless steel rolls originating in China, Japan, Korea, the EU, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and the US. The duty will be notified by the Department of Revenue of the finance ministry.
Though details of the additional duty to be imposed are not available, a government source said a maximum duty of $1,823 per tonne of cold-rolled steel will be levied on Chinese products. Cold-rolled steel products are used in manufacturing of equipment meant for food processing, dairy products, pipes and tubes as well as high-end kitchenware.
Top ministers and officials from 20 nations that account for 90 per cent of the world output are meeting in London for the G-20 summit, where protectionist measures like anti-dumping and safeguards will be discussed.
A recent World Bank report had pointed that India ranked second in the number of anti-dumping measures after the US. The summit assumes importance as it is being organised in the backdrop of the global financial crisis.
"Anti-dumping duty on cold-rolled stainless steel will give a signal to overseas producers not to dump their products in India. The spike in import of the product was affecting us," said N C Mathur, director of Jindal Stainless.
