India lowers tariffs on some inbound scrap metals

The Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has informed its members that the government of India has lowered or removed some tariffs on some scrap metal imports. The BIR says it has confirmed the customs duty on ferrous scrap imports into India “has been reduced to 0 percent until March 31, 2022.”

An 11-page Ministry of Finance document for customs duty procedures, posted by the BIR to its website, shows the 7204 harmonized system (HS) code associated with ferrous scrap has been changed from 2.5 percent to “nil.”

The duty of inbound copper-bearing scrap also has been changed, with the document showing the 7404 HS code being lowered to 2.5 percent. BIR says the previous duty had been set at 5 percent.

The 11-page document, dated Feb. 1, includes a wider range of manufactured, semimanufactured, agricultural and mineral goods in the same notification. The Indian Ministry of Finance says the changes meet a standard of being “necessary in the public interest.”

A Feb. 1 Times of India article quotes Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as saying, “MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and other user industries have been severely hit by a recent sharp rise in iron and steel prices.”