India is contemplating 10 per cent safeguard duty on imports of key aluminum products used in the automobile and machinery sector to protect the domestic industry against cheap shipments mainly from China, South Korea, Oman and Iran, an official said.
Endorsing the industry's concern that the surge in aluminum imports is affecting domestic units, the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) has recommended a flat 10 per cent duty on items like aluminum, aluminum waste and scraps.
"On the basis of findings it is seen that increased imports of unwrought aluminum, aluminum waste and aluminum scraps have caused and threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry/producers," the DGS has concluded.
These recommendations will now go to an inter-ministerial standing board, chaired by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai.
The duty recommended is for 200 days. However, the standing board had last month sent back the investigation report by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties for imposition of anti-dumping duty on steel products.
The country's leading producers, including Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), National Aluminum Company (NALCO) and Hindalco Industries Ltd, had filed the petition for the imposition of the duty.
Imports of aluminium and its products increased to 131,858 tonnes in January-March 2009, from 96,074 tonnes in the same period last year.
Safeguard duty is a temporary protectionist measure which is brought in for a certain time-frame to avert any damage to domestic industry from cheap imports.
The Directorate General of Safeguards, Customs and Central Excise has recommended imposing ad-valorem provisional safeguard duty for 200 days.
