The Indian government will ‘wait and watch’ how the Trump Administration’s 25 percent tariff on steel and steel products affects domestic business and only then devise a counter-strategy, minister for steel and heavy industries, H.D. Kumaraswamy, said in a statement on Wednesday, March 5.
There is no clarity on the nature of the tariffs to be imposed by the US and India’s strategy will be ready once the details are known, he said.
Domestic steelmakers and experts have contended that this US trade barrier hike is likely to encourage steel dumping into India, as it is one of the few jurisdictions with minimal trade restrictions on the metal.
However, Sandeep Poundrik, secretary of the ministry of steel, had stated earlier that this tariff is unlikely to have a major impact on India, as the country's domestic demand for steel is robust and only a fraction of Indian-made steel is exported to the US.
“The Indian Steel Association (ISA) expresses deep concern over the US decision to impose tariffs on steel imports. This latest tariff is expected to slash steel exports to the US by 85 percent, creating a massive surplus that will likely flood India, which is one of the few major markets without trade restrictions presently,” said Naveen Jindal, president of the ISA and chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), said.