In a boost to domestic steel industry amid the economic chaos induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has imposed anti-dumping duty on the imports of certain types of steel products from China, Vietnam and South Korea for a span of five years, reports Economic Times.

The anti-dumping duty was slapped on the imports from these nations after the Union Commerce Ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had found that these nations were exporting the offerings to India under the associated normal prices, resulting into dumping activity.

The duty applies to flat-rolled products of steel which are plated or coated with an alloy of aluminium and zinc.

It should be noted that under the global trade practice and also under the contours of World Trade Organisation (WTO)'s norms, nations are empowered to impose such anti-dumping duties on imports from select nations to provide a level-playing field to the domestic players in the industry.

Steel forms one of the core sectors of the Indian economy and the development comes as a major boost for the players engaged in the sector who would now have more favourable space to compete with the players from China, Vietnam and South Korea.