India considers new three-year protective duty on steel imports

The Indian government is considering introducing a new structured safeguard duty on steel imports of 11-12%, according to SteelOrbis.

The new initiative provides that the safeguard duty will be levied for three years and reduced by 1% each year.

In April this year, India introduced a temporary safeguard duty of 12% on imports of certain steel products for 200 days to counter cheaper supplies from abroad, mainly from China. This measure expired in early November.

In August, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (GDTR) recommended a three-year safeguard duty of 12% on steel imports.

The introduction of the temporary duty, according to MyMetalogic, proved effective, reducing imports of rolled steel into the country in the first half of the 2025/2026 fiscal year (April-September) by 38.7% year-on-year to 3.04 million tons. Indian steel producers support the extension of the duty, while key consumers of steel products, such as machine building and construction, are concerned about the prospect of increased production costs and the potential impact on competitiveness.

It should be recalled that the DGTR recently recommended the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of low-ash metallurgical coke from six countries: Australia, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, and Russia. India already applies import quotas on these products, which will expire in December.