Safeguard Duty Imposed on Steel Flat Products for Three Years

 The Ministry of Finance issued Notification No. 02/2025–Customs (SG) dated 30 December 2025, imposing a definitive safeguard duty on imports of non-alloy and alloy steel flat products following final findings by the Director General (Trade Remedies). The findings concluded that a recent, sudden, sharp, and significant surge in imports caused and threatened serious injury to the domestic steel industry. Accordingly, safeguard duty has been imposed for three years, retrospectively linked to the provisional levy that began on 21 April 2025. The duty is structured on a graduated basis—12% ad valorem for the first year, 5% for the second, and 11% for the third. The notification provides price-based exemptions where imports meet specified CIF thresholds and excludes certain product categories and imports from specified developing countries. The measure aims to balance domestic industry protection with calibrated relief for higher-priced and exempted imports.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)

Notification No. 02/2025 – Customs (SG) | Dated: 30th December, 2025

G.S.R. 931(E).— Whereas, in the matter of import of “Non-Alloy and Alloy Steel Flat Products”, namely (a) Hot Rolled Coils, Sheets and Plates, (b) Hot Rolled Plate Mill Plates, (c) Cold Rolled Coils and Sheets, (d) Metallic Coated Steel Coils and Sheets, whether or not profiled, including Galvanneal, Coated with Zinc or Aluminium-Zinc or Zinc-Aluminium-Magnesium, and (e) Colour Coated Coils and Sheets, whether or not profiled (hereinafter referred to as the subject goods), falling under tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225 or 7226 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) (hereinafter referred to as the Customs Tariff Act), the Director General (Trade Remedies) in its preliminary findings vide notification No. 22/01/2024-DGTR, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1, dated the 18^th March 2025, has provisionally concluded that recent, sudden, sharp, and significant increase in imports of subject goods into India has caused and threatens to cause serious injury to the domestic industry/producers of subject goods, thereby necessitating the imposition of provisional safeguard duty on imports of the subject goods into India;

And whereas, on the basis of the aforesaid findings of the Director General (Trade Remedies), the Central Government has imposed provisional safeguard duty on import of the subject goods into India for a period of two hundred days with effect from the 21^st day of April, 2025 vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 01/2025-Customs (SG), dated the 21^st April, 2025 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number GSR 243 (E), dated the 21^st April, 2025;

And whereas, the Director General (Trade Remedies) in its final findings vide notification No. 22/01/2024-DGTR dated the 16^th August, 2025 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part I, section 1, dated the 16^th August, 2025 has come to the conclusion that there is a recent, sudden, sharp and significant increase in imports of subject goods into India thereby causing and threatening to cause serious injury to the domestic industry / producers of subject goods, and has recommended imposition of safeguard duty on imports of the subject goods for a period of three years from the date of levy of the provisional safeguard duty;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 8B of the Customs Tariff Act, read with rules 12, 14 and 17 of the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Measures) Rules, 1997, the Central Government after considering the said findings of the Director General (Trade Remedies), hereby imposes on the subject goods falling under tariff headings 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225 and 7226 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, when imported into India, a safeguard duty at the following rate, namely :-

a. 12 percent ad valorem, when imported during the period from 21^st April, 2025 to 20^th April, 2026;

b. 5 percent ad valorem, when imported during the period from 21^st April, 2026 to 20^th April, 2027;

c. 11 percent ad valorem, when imported during the period from 21^st April, 2027 to 20^th April, 2028:

Provided that the said safeguard duty shall not be levied for the period commencing from the date of the lapse of the provisional safeguard duty, up to the preceding day of the publication of this notification in the Official Gazette.

2. The safeguard duty shall not be imposed on the product categories as specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the Table below, when imported into India, at or above the import price on CIF basis as mentioned in the corresponding entry in column (3), in the currency as specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) and as per unit of measurement as specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table, namely :-

Table

3. Nothing contained in this notification shall apply to imports of ,-

i. Hot Rolled Coils, Sheets and Plates imported from developing countries listed in Notification No. 19/2016-Customs (N.T.), other than China PR and Vietnam;

ii. Hot Rolled Plate Mill Plates imported from developing countries listed in Notification No. 19/2016-Customs (N.T.), other than China PR;

iii. Cold Rolled Coils and Sheets imported from developing countries listed in Notification No. 19/2016-Customs (N.T.), other than China PR and Nepal;

iv. Metallic Coated Steel Coils and Sheets, whether or not profiled, including Galvanneal, Coated with Zinc or Aluminium-Zinc or Zinc-Aluminium-Magnesium imported from developing countries listed in Notification No. 19/2016-Customs (N.T.), other than Vietnam, China PR and Nepal; and

v. Colour Coated coils and sheets, whether or not profiled imported from developing countries listed in Notification No. 19/2016-Customs (N.T.), other than China PR and Nepal.

Explanation: For the purposes of this notification,

(i) The following products are excluded from the scope of subject goods:

a. Cold Rolled Grain Oriented Electrical Steel (CRGO);

b. Cold Rolled Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (CRNO) coils and sheets;

c. Coated – Electro Galvanized Steel;

d. Tinplate;

e. Stainless steel;

f. Nickel Coated / Nickel Plated Cold Rolled Steel;

g. Rubber Coated Steel;

h. Electro Galvanised (EG) – Zinc Nickel Coated Steel;

i. Bi-Metal Steel / Bi-Metal Sandwich Steel;

j. Brass Coated Steel Wire;

k. CRUTONITE;

l. INCONEL;

m. Stainless Steel Items;

n. Aluminium Coated Steel;

o. Aluminium Silicon Coated / Hot Dipped Aluminised Silicon Coated Steel;

p. Hot Rolled Clad Steel Plate;

q. Nickel Plated Steel / Nickel Plated Strip;

r. Copper Plated Steel;

s. Laminated Electro Galvanized (EGI);

t. Cobalt Plated Steel;

u. Silver Plated Steel; and

v. Titanium Clad Plates;

ii. the rate of exchange applicable for the purposes of calculation of the safeguard duty shall be the rate which is specified in the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), issued from time to time, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and the relevant date for the determination of the rate of exchange shall be the date of presentation of the bill of entry under section 46 of the said Customs Act; and

iii. “Import price on CIF basis” means the assessable value as determined under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962).

[F. No. 190354/42/2025-TRU]
DHEERAJ SHARMA, Under Secy.