India imposes 5-year definitive anti-dumping duty on Cold Rolled Non-Oriented Electrical Steel (CRNO) from China (Notification 35/2025-Customs (ADD), $223.82–$414.92/MT)

Mechanism

This is a producer-specific anti-dumping duty (specific rate per metric tonne in USD, not ad-valorem) imposed under the Customs Tariff Act 1975 and the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Anti-dumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules 1995. The structure is two-tier:

• USD 223.82/MT for three named producers/exporters: Wuhan Iron

& Steel Co., Ltd.; Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.; and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (the three Baowu Group affiliates that cooperated with DGTR's questionnaire and disclosed costs).

• USD 414.92/MT for all other Chinese producers/exporters

(non-cooperating residual rate, ~85% higher than the cooperating rate — standard DGTR penalty wedge for non-cooperation).

The duty runs for five years from the date of imposition (18 December 2025) unless revoked earlier on sunset review. Coverage spans HS 7210, 7225 and 7226 — hot-dipped metallic-coated flat products and alloy/silicon-electrical flat products. The CRFH exclusion is material: it deliberately allows Indian downstream re-rollers to import the upstream feedstock from China while protecting the finished motor/transformer-grade segment where Indian integrated mills (JSW, Tata) have capacity.

Downstream implications

• Electric motor and transformer supply chain: CRNO is the core

magnetic-steel input for low-frequency electric motors, distribution transformers, generators, and EV traction motors. India's transformer manufacturers (Crompton Greaves, Bharat Heavy Electricals, ABB India, Siemens India) will see input-cost pressure on imported CRNO grades but should benefit from domestic JSW/Tata supply stabilising at non-dumped prices.

• EV motor margin compression: Indian EV makers (Tata Motors,

Mahindra Electric, Ola Electric) using Chinese-sourced electrical steel see ~10–15% input-cost increases on the motor-stack BOM, depending on grade and prior-import price.

• Complementary to safeguard duty: This action is structurally

distinct from 2025-12-30-india-steel-flat-products-safeguard-duty-final. The safeguard is volume-based (12% ad-valorem on overall non-alloy/alloy flat products from all origins); this AD duty is origin-specific (China only) and price-specific (dumping-margin-based, specific USD/MT rate). The two stack on Chinese CRNO imports falling under the overlapping HS 7225/7226 headings.

• Trade-remedy gap-filler: The register previously held only

~16 trade-remedy actions despite DGTR running ~18 active AD cases against China in 2025. This is the foundational electrical-steel AD instrument.

Open questions

• Will Chinese mills reroute CRNO through Vietnam/Thailand to evade

the origin-specific duty? Past patterns suggest yes — watch for circumvention investigations within 12–18 months.

• Does the CRFH exclusion create a perverse incentive for downstream

Indian re-rollers to substitute Chinese CRFH-derived processing for direct CRNO imports, effectively neutralising part of the duty's protective effect on JSW/Tata?

• Sunset-review timing (December 2030) and whether the cooperating

rate ($223.82/MT) gets renegotiated downward if Chinese mills reduce dumping margins.