Why is aluminium industry demanding customs duty hikes?

It is actually the representative body of aluminium companies, the Aluminium Association of India, that has made this demand. In fact, the *** called for a hike in basic customs duty for aluminium and articles from 10% to 15%. The idea here was to correct the inverted duty structure. At the same time, *** also asked for lower duties on critical raw materials like petcoke, caustic soda, aluminium fluoride and alumina. This would cut cost of production.

Most Indian commodity manufacturers have been facing the brunt of global commodity inflation and dumping by China has only worsened the situation for Indian aluminium companies. At the same time, they have had to contend with power shortages too. *** has demanded a hike in customs duty of primary aluminium from 7.5% to 10%, aluminium scrap from 2.5% to 10% and downstream aluminium products from 7.5% to 10% in Budget 2023.

Continuing on the subject of dumping by China, India has meanwhile imposed anti-dumping duties on 5 Chinese products. These include aluminium goods and chemicals. These anti-dumping duties were based on recommendations made by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies or DGTR, which is the intelligence wing of the government. According to DGTR, these products were being dumped by China below the competitive price.