Anti-dumping duty likely on steel products under MIP: Ind-Ra

Ratings agency Ind-Ra expects that most of the 66 products retained by the government in the Minimum Import Price (MIP) list on steel products will be soon brought under the anti-dumping duty purview.

The government extended MIP on 66 steel products for another two months till December 4, 2016.

The recent government action to extend the MIP shows its desire to extend protection for a longer time, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said in a statement.

Many of the products are mostly subject to anti-dumping investigation, which is likely to be completed over the next two months, it added.

"Ind-Ra believes that once this is completed anti-dumping duty (ADD) is likely to be imposed on most of these products for an extended period," it said.

ADD is slightly less restrictive since they apply only to a specified country of origin and in this case the six countries China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia account for around 90-95 per cent of the hot-rolled products imported into India, it added.

ADD's scope is restricted to the originating countries named and is therefore narrower in scope than MIP, but its impact when applicable is the same as MIP, Ind-Ra said.

The ADD imposed on steel products is not fixed and will be calculated at a rate which is equivalent to the difference between the amount identified in the notification and the landed value of the goods covered under ADD, provided the landed value is less than the amount specified.

The key difference between MIP and ADD is that, MIP is applicable on the import of goods from any country, whereas ADD is specific to goods imported from certain countries/ producers as is notified, it added.