India imposes 3-year tariff on steel products, imports from China to be affected

December 31, 2025

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has decided to impose a safeguard duty of 11-12% on select steel products for three years to curb the increasing import of low-cost steel from China. According to the notification, this duty will be implemented in a phased manner—12% in the first year, 11.5% in the second year, and 11% in the third year.

This duty will apply to imports arriving between April 21, 2025, and April 20, 2028. Imports from certain developing countries are exempt, but shipments from China, Vietnam, and Nepal will remain subject to this duty. This duty will not apply to specific products such as stainless steel.

Serious injury to domestic industry feared
The government stated that the sudden and rapid increase in the supply of cheap steel from China is proving detrimental to the domestic steel industry. The notification stated that this sharp increase in imports is “causing and may cause serious injury to domestic producers in the future,” necessitating the imposition of safeguard duty.

Earlier in April, the government had imposed an interim safeguard duty of 12% for a period of 200 days.

Duty to be implemented in three phases
According to the government order, the duty rates are as follows:

12% ad valorem | April 21, 2025 – April 20, 2026
11.5% ad valorem | April 21, 2026 – April 20, 2027
11% ad valorem | April 21, 2027 – April 20, 2028

This decision was taken after reviewing the recommendations of the Director General (Trade Remedies) to ensure fair competition for domestic steel companies in the market.