'Steel safeguard duty may hurt small enterprises'

A delegation comprising several organisations has urged the government to take a relook at the safeguard duty imposed on certain steel products, saying the levy would hurt small enterprises.
The delegation recently called on Commerce Minister Nirmala Seetharaman and presented a list of irritants purportedly created by the imposition of the safeguard duty on hot-rolled coils and provided justification for their removal.
The delegation comprised representatives from the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM), Bombay Iron Merchant's Association (BIMA), Thane Small Scale Industries Association (TSSIA), and Chamber of Small Industries Association (COSIA).
Representatives of Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumotomo Metal and Marubeni Itochu Steel were part of the team led by former Minister of State for Power Jaywantiben Mehta.

During the meeting, "it was specifically highlighted that the SMEs and MSMEs would suffer tremendously as against the protection provided to large steel plants", FAM and BIMA said in a release.
The government has imposed a provisional safeguard duty of 20 per cent on import of certain categories of steel with a view to protecting domestic producers from the recent surge in inward shipments.