India has imposed a new import tax on some steel products for the next three years to stop cheap steel coming into the country especially from China. The decision was announced in a finance ministry order released on Tuesday. The tax known as a safeguard duty will be 12 per cent in the first year. It will then be reduced to 11.5 per cent in the second year and 11 per cent in the third year. According to the order published in the official government gazette imports from some developing countries will be exempt from this duty. However steel coming from China Vietnam and Nepal will be covered under the new rule. The duty will also not apply to special steel products like stainless steel. The Union steel ministry has said several times that it wants to protect India’s steel industry from damage caused by cheap and low-quality imports. Earlier in April the government had imposed a temporary 12 per cent import duty for 200 days. Indias decision came after Trumps steel import tariff The Directorate General of Trade Remedies recommended the three-year duty after finding that steel imports had risen sharply in a short period. It said this sudden increase was harming and could further harm domestic steel producers. India’s move to impose tariffs on steel imports comes amid rising global trade tensions linked to Chinese steel exports especially after actions taken by the United States. US President Donald Trump’s decision to raise steel import tariffs has triggered reactions across several countries. Nations such as South Korea and Vietnam have already imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel this year to protect their local industries. On May 30 Trump announced that the United States would increase existing tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. He said the decision was based on national security concerns under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This law allows the US president to restrict imports if they are seen as a threat to national security. Trump had first used this provision in 2018 when he imposed a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium. Earlier this year in February 2025 aluminium tariffs were raised to 25 per cent.