Alwaght- India, in a retaliatory move, has proposed imposing import duties of up to 100% on 20 American goods if Washington does not roll back increased tariffs on steel and aluminum
The 20 items would include peas, chickpeas, fresh apples, walnuts, soybean oil, refined palm olein, coco powder, chocolate products, golf cars, motorcycles with engine capacity of over 800 cc and other goods and vehicles with spark-ignition internal combustion piston engines.
Additional duty proposed to be hiked on these items ranges from 5% to 100%.
A communication by India to WTO reads “India hereby notifies the Council for Trade in Goods of its decision to suspend concessions or other obligations ... that are substantially equivalent to the amount of trade affected by the measures imposed by the United States,” The Hindu reported.
According to the Indian daily, the formal communication also says that India reserves its right to further suspend substantially equivalent concessions and other obligations based on the measures of the US
On March 9, the Trump administration raised the import duty on aluminum products to 10%, while on steel products the duty was raised to 25% for all countries except Canada and Mexico. Due to the increased import duty by the US, around$1.5 billion worth of India's exports of aluminum and steel products have been affected.
India had earlier urged the US to exempt it from the decision to raise import duties on certain steel and aluminum products and resolve the issue amicably through consultation, which was declined by the Trump administration.
