India imposes safeguard duty on aluminium products from China

New Delhi: India has imposed up to 30% duty on import of key aluminium products from China to protect the domestic industry against cheap shipments. The department of revenue has notified 12-14% duty on aluminium flat sheets, primarily used by sectors such as auto and construction, and 25-30% duty on foils, widely consumed by the packaging industry. The duty would be effective retrospectively from 23 March, 2009, for two years. “Increased import of aluminium flat rolled products and aluminium foil into India from People’s Republic of China had caused and threatened to cause market disruption to domestic industry ... this had necessitated the imposition of provisional safeguard duty on import,” the department of revenue said in the notification. The Directorate general of safeguards in January initiated a probe into cheap arrival of aluminium products after the domestic industry had filed a petition for levying the duty against import from China. Safeguard duty is a WTO-compatible temporary measure that is brought in for a certain time-frame to avert any damage to domestic industry from cheap imports.