The Indian government today placed safeguard duties on Chinese aluminum imports, in an attempt to protect the local industry:
A safeguard duty is a temporary tax on imports to protect local industry from predatory pricing. Government officials said the duty had been imposed for 200 days… “The initiative by the government to impose safeguard duty on aluminum foils and sheets is quite important for the domestic industry,” said Balco CEO Gunjan Gupta…
The government had yesterday imposed a 20 per cent safeguard duty on PAN (pthallic anyhydride), a chemical used in plastics and dyes, for six months. India mainly imports PAN from South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia.
The Business Standard also reported the Indian government’s plan to include other imports from China:
India is likely to impose safeguard duty — an emergency import duty — on about 12 products originating from China. The Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) under the finance ministry has already recommended safeguard duty on import of soda ash and certain aluminum products from China, earlier this year.
“The government will initiate safeguard duty investigations on about 12 to 13 products belonging to chemicals and base metals sector. Import of these products from China has surged in the past few months, causing injury to the industry. In most cases, this provisional duty is likely to be for a period of 200 days,” said a government official in the know.
The Indian government has become increasingly protective of its economy, resulting in their recent ban of China-made toys.
See also a previous report about the proposed aluminum ban.
