India. Govt builds dumping defence to protect steel industry

India. More steps to help industry. Govt builds dumping defence.
The government will initiate strong anti-dumping measures to protect steel, consumer goods and chemicals industries, Ashwani Kumar, minister of state for industry, said. It has already started implementing a package to reverse the slowdown in industry by announcing duty sops and spending between Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore in infrastructure development. “Chemicals, steel and consumer goods need protection. Most of the goods coming in are from China,” Kumar said. Indian companies have also blamed Chinese firms for undercutting them in domestic and overseas markets. There are fears of Chinese firms diverting products meant for the US and the European markets, which are in a recession, towards India, one of the few major economies expecting 6-per-cent-plus growth in gross domestic product. The industry department, in consultation with firms, has started identifying sectors facing the greatest threat from China. Besides anti-dumping measures, officials said, the government could also impose non-tariff measures and set higher quality and safety standards. China is a major exporter of textiles, chemicals, steel, consumer products and light engineering goods to the US and the EU. However, not every segment of industry is happy with the government’s efforts to stem import. In his reaction to yesterday’s decision by the government to reimpose import duty on steel products, Vidyashankar Krishnan, president of the Association of Indian Forging Industry, said, it “will keep prices at high levels, leading to higher inflation and be a big blow to the steel user industry.” Steel makers, on the other hand, are lobbying the government for higher duties on imported steel because of falling sales. India’s import of “sensitive” items rose 26.8 per cent in the April-September period because of higher demand of edible oil, cotton, silk, automobiles, rubber, spices, tea and coffee, a commerce ministry statement said. An increase in the import of sensitive items — they are goods which employ large numbers of people — adversely affects the interests of local farmers and small businesses. During the period, sensitive imports stood at Rs 20,560 crore against Rs 16,216 crore in the same period a year ago.