Govt rejects demand for safeguard duty on steel, aluminium

The government today turned down a demand for imposition of safeguard duty on imports of certain steel and aluminium products, saying the domestic industry is not being hurt by imports. The Standing Board on Safeguard headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and comprising Steel Secretary P K Rastogi, among others, rejected the recommendations of Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) for imposition of the duty on the imports. The DGS had recommended the duty imposition after examining the industry's demand. "We have considered every aspect and did not find sufficient reasons for safeguard duty on imports of key steel and aluminium products," Steel Secretary P K Rastogi told PTI after the meeting of the board. Safeguard duty, a WTO-compliant mechanism, is imposed as and when a surge in import is found to be hurting the local industry. In its revised draft, the DGS had reached a benchmark of Rs 27,000 a tonne. The difference between the landed cost of the imported consignment and the benchmark should have been the safeguard duty on flat steel products like hot-rolled coils, sheets and strips to be imposed as duty. The DGS had also recommended 10 per cent duty on imports of certain aluminium and its waste and scrap. However, these recommendations did not find favour with the board.