The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Economic Policy Committee meeting, which is starting today in Paris, will have a significant bearing on India's trade policy.
The Indian delegation is led by K S Rajendra Kumar, joint secretary, Union ministry of steel.
India assumed the role of a supporting member to OECD only this year, for which the Centre had to shell out FFr 300,000.
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India has become a supporting member on account of its steel trade with the other OECD member countries. Of this, Germany, Sweden, UK, Luxembourg and Italy are the major steel producing countries.
International trade disputes have assumed significance in recent years with the Indian steel industry being hit by steep anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties in the European and US markets.
Import and export restrictions form the basis of the OECD meeting. This is especially significant for India as the European Union (EU) has slapped an anti-dumping duty of 23 per cent on Indian flat products.
At a recent high-level meeting in Delhi, representatives from EU raised points pertaining to the steep rise in steel exports from India over the last few years. While hot-rolled products exports in 1998-99 was 0.7 million tonne, it increased more than 100 per cent in 1999-2000 to 1.462 million tonne.
It is expected to further increase to 2.7 million tonne by 2001. Of a total of 210-220 million steel traded globally every year, India's contribution exceeded 1 per cent only last year.
The most recent instance of the anti-dumping duty charge, however, was the slapping of provisional duties totalling 72 per cent on imports of Indian steel plates to the US. Plates are exported primarily by the Steel Authority of India Ltd to the US.