Russia has newly approved a nine-month abolition of 5 percent import duty on steels for their automobile industry.

This is believed to help domestic car makers coping with unsafe loans from the national banks which are suffered seriously by global financial crisis.

After the period of 9-month abolishment, the government will decide whether to extend the measure or to free the tariff indefinitely.

However, domestic steel manufacturers view this action as threats to their products, especially for cold-rolled steel products. At the same time, Russia has raised import duty on foreign used cars to double secure their motor vehicles.