Link to Article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-weighs-temporary-tax-cheap-chinese-steel-import-minister-says-2025-02-12/
News coming from New Delhi as of yesterday reports that the Indian government could impose a 15-25% import tariff on Chinese steel in the upcoming six months due to the competition posed by cheap, readily available manufacturers in comparison to Indian domestic producers. A statement by the Indian Minister of Steel, H.D Kumaraswamy, reports his beliefs that rising Chinese steel imports alongside unfair trade practices pose serious and consistent threats to domestic Indian steel production, going as far as to state the Indian government is resolutely committed to protecting its domestic manufacturers.
This all comes due to investigations began by the Indian government some months prior, in early December of 2024, into whether the posing of a temporary import tax would be ultimately necessary given the concerns held by the Ministry of Steel and the Indian government as a whole. If adopted, as reported by Reuters associates in New Delhi, the tax could last up to 2 years. In part this situation was sparked due to India becoming a net steel importer, primarily through Chinese imports, with peaks of imports from China coming in April and December of last year. This has led to domestic steel prices plummeting and a turn down in jobs due to costs and an overall lack of domestic manufacturing profits.
I think it’s likely that India does pursue taxes for imported Chinese steel, however, as the article later goes on to state, it is expected that President Donald Trump of the United States is going to announce import tariffs on manufacturing and construction goods, such as steel, which could and very well would lead businesses to look at India to import to. As one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and one that is constantly modernizing its infrastructure to catch up to the rest of the western powers, the whole situation may force India’s hand in prioritizing its own domestic manufacturing over that of speeding up its infrastructural modernizations.
As for how other actors could respond, I highly doubt the Chinese government will pay much concern of the tariffs imposed, as many of the neighboring states in Central and Southern Asia also need a great deal of steel, and will be prime targets to take over the amount of imported steel offset by these new Indian taxes. India on the other hand could in force a total tariff tax of 15-25% on imported steel not solely exclusive to China, primarily due to its concerns of domestic pricing, jobs, and continued economic growth, despite the minor setback of infrastructural modernizations.