By Neha Arora
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Japan has called on India to exempt it from any temporary tax aimed at curbing rising steel imports, according to a source and documents, arguing the move would crimp supplies of high-grade, speciality alloys that New Delhi needs.
India, the world’s second biggest crude steel producer, initiated an investigation in December to consider if it should impose a temporary tax, locally known as a safeguard duty, to curtail steel imports.
Last month, India’s Minister of Steel H. D. Kumaraswamy confirmed that the probe was underway.
“Japanese steel products are exported to meet the demand for high-performance steel in India,” according to a presentation made by a visiting Japanese delegation to India’s steel ministry this week.
“These products cannot be manufactured domestically in India, or even if they are manufactured, the supply quantity and quality do not meet the requirements of domestic consumers,” the presentation documents showed. The presentation called for “consideration to exempt” Japan from India’s tariffs.
The Japanese embassy in India, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and India’s trade and steel ministries did not respond to emails from Reuters seeking comment.
The presentation was made during the third India-Japan Steel Dialogue held in New Delhi. The Japanese delegation comprised government and industry officials.
An Indian industry official who attended the meeting confirmed the details of the presentation. The source did not want to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to media.
Overcapacity in China and the regional bloc ASEAN led to the investigation being carried out by India, and that is why New Delhi should consider imposing country-specific curbs, exempting Tokyo, the presentation from Japan showed.
A flood of cheap Chinese steel has pushed India’s smaller mills to scale down operations and consider job cuts, Reuters reported in December.
Before the presentation on February 4, the Japanese embassy in New Delhi sent letters to India’s trade and steel ministries, urging them not to impose a temporary tax on steel imports, according to the source and the documents.
In a separate letter and presentation in December and January, the Japan Iron and Steel Federation urged the Indian government to exempt Japanese steel mills from any temporary tax, according to the source and documents.
The Japan Iron and Steel Federation counts Nippon Steel and JFE Steel Corp among its members, according to its website.
India’s overall finished steel imports reached a six-year high during the first nine months of the fiscal year that began in April 2024, with shipments from Japan hitting at least a seven-year high, nearly doubling from a year earlier, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters.
Shipments from China, South Korea and Japan accounted for 79% of India’s overall finished steel imports during the April-December period. Japan alone accounted for nearly a quarter of all finished steel imports.
(Reporting by Neha Arora; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
