Rejecting domestic producers' claims of injury from imports, an empowered government board today sought further consultations with user industries on proposed safeguard duty on imports of products like steel, paper and auto parts.
Amidst a conflict of interest between the producer and the user industries, the Standing Board on Safeguards, headed by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai, deferred the decision on the proposal for imposition of 20-25 per cent safeguard duty on imports of these products for two months.
It asked the Directorate General on Safeguards (DGS) to go back to different stakeholders, including the consumer industries, and then revert to the empowered body.
"From evidence, we do not see any threat to the domestic industry," Pillai said.
The DGS in the Finance Ministry had recommended imposition of extra duty of 20-25 per cent on imports of these items to protect domestic producer industries from inflows.
"We felt that not enough homework had been done and there is a need to consult both the domestic industry and other interested parties concerned... We have asked the DGS to consult the user industry and come back to the board after 60 days" Pillai told reporters here.
