Industrialists divided over anti-dumping duty on steel imported from Vietnam

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 28

The Union Government’s proposal to impose an anti-dumping duty on steel, coming from Vietnam has evoked a mixed response from members of the industry. On the one hand, some industrialists opposed the move, arguing if the duty is levied, the steel cartel in India will gain monopoly and dominate the market by hiking rates manifold. It would hit MSMEs and consumers of steel, they claimed. On the other hand, there are a few who feel that the duty should be levied so that Indian steel manufacturers are not hit and the rates are regulated.

Talking to The Tribune, Fasteners Manufacturers’ Association of India president Narinder Bhamra said there was no regulatory body in India to regulate the prices of steel. “Major players in steel in the country were handling the entire network, their cartel their rules. The steel coming from Vietnam is cheaper as compared to the raw material available in the Indian market. It has obviously hit the steel manufacturers of India, who are raising hue and cry. Either the steel manufacturers of India should control their rates or we oppose this anti-dumping duty on steel coming from Vietnam,” said Bhamra. He said exports would get a boost if anti-dumping duty was not imposed, besides the end customers would benefit.

Voicing similar views, the general secretary of the Federation of Industrial & Commercial Organisation (FICO) Rajiv Jain said they were against the proposal of the Union Government, which wanted to provide all benefits to the major players of steel in India. “We cannot boost our industry if the prices of the raw material are high. The price of the raw material should be at par with the international market. When we had asked the government to put an anti-dumping duty on bicycle parts, the proposal was rejected. It said it was under World Trade Organisation (WTO). If that was not possible, why is the government imposing an anti-dumping duty on steel now,” Jain said.

Meanwhile, KK Garg, another industrialist, said the government should go for the anti-dumping duty on steel coming from countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia. “We are focusing on Make in India. Our own industry will be hit badly if we start getting steel from other countries. Everybody should know that China is sending materials through Vietnam. We can keep a check on the price fluctuation of steel by constituting a regulatory body. But for the growth of the industry, imports should be discouraged,” Garg said.