Proposed countervailing duty on Steel will hurt MSMEs: FISME

New Delhi, June 5 (KNN) The union government may impose a countervailing duty (CVD) on stainless steel imports to check the flow of cheap imports and protect domestic manufacturers, reported Mint. 

As per a steel ministry official, the ministry backed a CVD levy on steel, and the commerce ministry’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies has already recommended a 19 per cent duty to the finance ministry, which will take a final call on the matter, reported Mint. 

However, CVD on steel is likely to hurt down-stream MSMEs. The national Federation of MSMEs- Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) have termed this is a ploy by a few large steel producers to jack up prices for windfall gain.    

The CVD is typically imposed to protect local companies that cannot compete with cheap imports that gain from subsidies given by the exporting nation. 

Due to such imports, domestic steelmakers, especially the smaller ones, are forced to put their hiring and expansion plans on hold and turn traders off the commodity. 

India used to impose a CVD on steel till the Union Budget 2021-22 removed it.

“The lobbies are back to get the CVD reinstated,” says FISME spokesperson.  (KNN Bureau)