India to remove retaliatory customs duties on eight US products

New Delhi: India will remove additional duties on eight US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019 in response to America's measure to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products, government sources said.

During the recent state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, both countries decided the termination of six WTO (World Trade Organisation) disputes and the removal of these retaliatory tariffs on certain US products. In 2018, the US imposed an import duty of 25 per cent on steel products and 10 per cent on certain aluminium products on grounds of national security. In retaliation, India in June 2019 imposed customs duties on 28 American products. The duties on these eight US-origin products would revert to the current applied most-favoured-nation (MFN) rate after India notifies the rescinding of additional duties, one of the sources, who is aware of the development, said.

The tariffs would end in 90 days. As part of the agreement, India will be removing additional duty on chickpeas (10 per cent), lentils (20 per cent), almonds fresh or dried (Rs 7 per kg), almonds shelled (Rs 20 per kg), walnuts (20 per cent), apples fresh (20 per cent), boric acid (20 per cent), and Diagnostic Regents (20 per cent), the sources added.

The duties were increased on 28 US products in 2019 in retaliation to the US decision to increase duties on certain steel and aluminium products. US lawmakers and industry leaders have welcomed the announcement of an agreement with India to end these duties. The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22. "India has announced it is lifting retaliatory tariffs that all but shut down the Indian market for Washington's more than 1,400 apple growers and now our growers will once again have access to this USD 120 million market," Cantwell, the Democratic Party lawmaker, has said in a statement. India was Washington's second export market for apples