India Imposes Steel Tax on Chinese Imports

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--India's government has announced a 12% tariff on some Chinese steel imports to curb a surge in cheap shipments.

The "temporary" tariff comes in response to the market being flooded in recent years by cheaper Chinese steel products that have resulted in some local firms scaling back operations and cutting jobs. The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the duty will run for 200 days from April 21, "unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier." It will apply to "Non-Alloy and Alloy steel products" and comes at a time when the U.S. President Donald Trump's wide-scale tariffs have sparked a major trade war with China. The tariffs have made it uneconomical for Chinese steel to sell in the U.S., which has resulted in cheap steel being offloaded in large quantities to other global markets, including India and Europe. India's Steel Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy claimed the move will help protect domestic steel manufacturers from rising imports. China is the second-largest exporter of steel products to India after South Korea.

"The move will provide critical relief to domestic producers, especially small and medium-scale enterprises, who have faced immense pressure from rising imports," Kumaraswamy said. "The safeguard duty will help restore market stability and reinforce the confidence of the domestic industry." He stated that the government remains committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure that the domestic steel sector remains resilient, self-reliant, and globally competitive. Last year, domestic Indian steelmakers called for protection from lower-priced imports from China and other Asian suppliers, which saw local prices driven to new record lows.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 2,100 steel-related projects in India worth in excess US$36 billion of investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports. The duty only applies if the import price falls below a certain threshold, which varies for different products. For hot-rolled coils (HRC), that threshold is $675 per tonne cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) while the threshold for cold-rolled coils (CRC) is set at $824 per tonne CIF. Government data has highlighted a sharp rise in steel imports, up 15% in financial year 2025 to 9.5 million tonnes, the highest since 2016. At the same time, the country's exports dropped to 5 million tonnes, the lowest in a decade.

The tariff has been welcomed by India's steel industry. Tata Steel's (Jharkhand, India) Chief Executive Officer T. V. Narendran described the move as a critical step to protecting their industry. "We welcome the government's decision to impose a safeguard duty on certain steel imports. This is a critical step in addressing the surge of unfairly priced imports to India. As we have highlighted before, unchecked imports, especially from countries with significant excess capacity, threaten domestic manufacturing, employment, and future investments. This decision will help restore fair competition, ensure the industry's long-term sustainability, and support India's vision of a self-reliant and globally competitive steel sector."

The Indian Steel Association, which had called for the safeguarding tariff, commented: "We welcome the government's decisive move to impose a 12% safeguard duty on certain steel products. This important step will protect Indian manufacturers from unfair imports, boost domestic production, and accelerate our journey towards a stronger, self-reliant India. We thank Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for his visionary leadership and steadfast support to the steel sector."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).