Indian Steel Industry Frets as Signing RCEP gets Closer
Business Line reported that Indian steel industry has expressed serious concern with Government inching close to signing Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which will open duty-free imports into the country from China. Mr Seshagiri Rao, Joint Managing Director, JSW Steel said “In 2009-10 when FTA was signed the industry was not familiar with its impact, but now having experienced the impact the industry wants more triggers in RCEP that will levy import duty automatically if imports breach certain level. With the steel industry already bleeding from FTA, the new proposed RCEP will include Australia, New Zealand and China to tap Indian market duty-free. China produces a billion tonne of steel a month, which is equivalent to India's annual consumption. Though China is part of WTO, it has an opaque system that provides export incentives including extending credits for a longer period at a lower cost.”
Mr TV Narendran, Managing Director Tata Steel, told Business Line that “The steel industry has not been much supportive of RCEP and it needs to be kept out of this. The fundamental point is that India is a growing market for steel. If anyone wants to participate in this market, let them come and invest in India, create jobs here. Why do you want somebody to borrow money at low cost and build some plant somewhere and import into India. The argument that countries that have no raw material should make steel and export, while India with all the raw material and domestic market, is still not trying to create an industry, goes against the opportunity that we have.”
The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The negotiations for signing RCEP were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia and are now in the advanced stage of finalization.