Overview
- IPCPA requested a 3% safeguard duty on imports of copper cathode, rod, wire and tube irrespective of FTA status, along with quantitative import restrictions.
- The group cited India–UAE CEPA provisions that cut duty on wire rods to 1% in FY26 with elimination due in FY27, and it alleged an inflated TRQ of 85,000 tpa versus an intended 29 KTPA that coincided with a 340% import surge from the UAE between FY22 and FY26.
- IPCPA argued the India–ASEAN CEPA’s cumulative value‑addition rule enables duty‑free entry after minimal processing, linking it to a 66% rise in wire imports and a 103% rise in tube imports from 2020 to 2024.
- The association said more than Rs 20,000 crore invested in domestic capacity is being undermined by zero‑ or low‑duty inflows from the UAE, ASEAN and Japan.
- Producers asked to add copper wires, tubes and foils to FTA exclusion lists, citing expanded Indonesian smelting capacity and Chinese investment in ASEAN operations, and no government response was reported.