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AAI seeks stronger import safeguards to protect India's aluminium industry from cheap, low-quality imports
Jul-20-2026

The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has urged the finance ministry to strengthen safeguards for the domestic aluminium industry, citing mounting global trade challenges including higher US tariffs, rising protectionism in Mexico, Indonesia's capacity expansion, Russian dumping, and a surge in low-quality scrap and aluminium imports from Gulf and ASEAN countries. In a representation to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC), it said since the world is using and promoting imports of only high-quality scrap, it is the need of the hour for India to establish similar quality standards for aluminium scrap. 

The association said that as major economies are protecting their aluminium industries through higher import duties and other trade measures to attract investments and reduce import dependence, India should also reinforce its trade safeguards. It has recommended retaining the existing duty structure on aluminium products, while considering higher basic customs duty and other trade measures to curb the surge in imports of poor quality scrap. It pointed to countries such as the US, Canada and Mexico, where import duties on certain aluminium products range between 15% and 50%. 

The AAI has requested to ensure that the final BIS standard titled 'Aluminium & Aluminium Alloy Scrap - Requirements & Conditions of Delivery' is notified without changes, saying it has already been approved by bodies such as NITI Aayog, and BIS. It said that this will ensure that India does not become a dumping ground for unchecked quality of hazardous global aluminium scrap. Once notified, it would classify aluminium scrap into different grades based on aluminium content, ranging from above 95 per cent to below 60 per cent.

It has urged the government to maintain the existing import duty on aluminium scrap until the pending BIS quality standard is notified and grade-wise HSN (harmonised nomenclature) codes are introduced. This would allow the government to distinguish between high-quality scrap used by recyclers and lower-grade scrap with higher impurities. It also suggested raising the import duty to 7.5 per cent on low-grade aluminium scrap (Grades 3 to 7) thereafter to curb imports of poor-quality scrap into the country.
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