India and Japan have signed a bilateral agreement for greater collaboration of their respective steel industries, and to ramp up domestic steel production and coordination in global trade countering the domination of China, an Indian government official said on Wednesday, December 23.
The official said that the Memorandum of Cooperation in Steel Industry agreement was signed by Pradip Kumar Tripathi, joint secretary at India’s Ministry of Steel, and Tanaka Shegehiro, vice minister of international affairs, representing Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The two countries will discuss trade and investment issues of the steel industries in both countries and promote sustainable growth in their respective countries, the official said.
The collaboration will also aim to strengthen alternatives to current supply chains of the steel industries and work with other partner countries like the US and Australia and deepen their footprint in global trade, he added.
India and Japan were the second and third largest steel producing countries in 2019 with outputs of 111.2 million mt and 99.3 million mt respectively, but far behind China with production of 996.3 million mt. For long, China has been accused of dumping steel and its steel exports have faced 15 antidumping investigations this year in Australia, Thailand, the UK and the US.