Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal backs steel duty, urges similar protection for aluminium amid US-China trade tensions.
Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has sounded the alarm on rising trade tensions and their ripple effects on India’s metal industry, highlighting steel and aluminium as the “true economic weapons” in the escalating U.S.-China trade war.
Agarwal’s remarks follow India’s imposition of a 12% safeguard duty on steel imports in April to protect domestic producers from a surge of underpriced foreign products. The temporary duty will remain in effect for 200 days and applies to steel priced below global thresholds.
Welcoming the government’s move, Agarwal urged policymakers to extend similar protection to aluminium, warning that global producers, especially those losing traditional markets due to geopolitical shifts, are likely to offload cheap aluminium into emerging markets like India.
“We all know the US and China are at the centre of the trade war, but steel and aluminium are the real commodities in play,” Agarwal wrote on X. He stressed aluminium’s growing strategic importance due to its lightweight, recyclable nature and warned of market destabilisation if timely action isn’t taken.
Referencing the 25% U.S. tariff on both steel and aluminium, Agarwal said India must act decisively to avoid being the dumping ground of surplus global supply. “With our vast bauxite reserves, India can become the aluminium hub of the world,” he said, pointing to the potential for massive downstream industry growth.
Agarwal’s message is clear: safeguard duties are not mere tariffs but crucial economic defences for India’s industrial and strategic future.
Source: BT
