India withdraws duty-free imports of flat rolled stainless steel for export prod

India’s Directorate General for Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce has withdrawn the facility of duty-free imports of flat rolled stainless steel products under the Advance Authorization scheme, a ministry official said on Tuesday, March 12.

Under the Advance Authorization scheme, duty-free imports of flat steel stainless steel products were permitted for export production subject to the condition that such exports were completed within six months of the date of customs clearance of the import consignment.

The notification issued by the DGFT said, “Import of flat rolled stainless steel products covered under Indian Trade Clarification (ITC) Harmonized System (HS) Code 7219 and 7220 under Advance Authorization stands deleted.”

The current import tariffs on flat rolled stainless steel products include a basic import duty of 10 percent, a countervailing duty of 12 percent and a special countervailing duty of four percent.