EXPORT OF STEEL TO USA

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India exported to USA 7,24,000 tonnes of steel products during 1999-2000, 4,82,000 tonnes during 2000-01 and 1,23,000 tonnes during April'01 to January'02. Some of the countries, which have imported Indian steel products at constant or increasing rates during these years are : Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, UAE, Belgium, Bangladesh, China and Nigeria.

The trade actions imposed on Indian steel exports by USA have been responsible for the decline in the level of exports. On the issue of the imposition of anti dumping duty of 72.49 per cent and countervailing duty of 12.82 per cent on import of Cut-to-Length Carbon Plates from India by the US, the Indian Government has challenged the action and taken the dispute to the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the WTO. The Government has been supporting the cause of Indian exporters by disseminating information pertaining to global trade and WTO-related issues and by taking up the cause of Indian exporters in various anti-dumping and safeguard investigations.

This information was given by the Minister for Steel Shri B.K.Tripathy in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.