Government raises import duty on aluminium and steel

Source: PTI

Government has raised basic customs duty on base metals such as iron, steel, copper, nickel and aluminium by 2.5%. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday approached Parliament seeking to increase the basic customs duty by 2.5 per cent on specified goods falling under Chapter 72. Under the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), this pertains to base metals, which includes commodities such as iron and steel, copper, nickel, aluminium, lead, zinc, tin, tungsten (wolfram), molybdenum, among others. Domestic steel producers are demanding increase in import duty to check cheap imports from China, Korea and Japan. In June, the government raised basic customs duty (BCD) on some long and flat steel products by 2.5%. Import duty on flat steel products was increased to 10% from 7.5%, while for long steel products it was raised to 7.5% from 5%. During June itself, India slapped anti-dumping duty of up to $316 per tonne on imports of certain steel products from three countries, including China, to protect domestic producers from below-cost inbound shipments. Domestic aluminium producers have also been demanding hiking import duty as they are facing stiff challenge from China, which is exporting aluminium products at cheaper rates. Aluminium Association of India (AAI) met the Mines Secretary and other government officials last week and sought a level playing field for the producers by raising the import duty on aluminium metals to 10%.

August 12, 2015 | 6:06pm IST.