India will inflict retaliatory tariffs on 29 U.S. items including almonds, walnuts, and pulses from June 16, after extending the deadline for doing the same several times, government sources said Friday.
India has informed the U.S. about its decision to go ahead with the retaliatory tariffs, the sources said. The finance ministry will soon issue a notification to this effect, they added.
The retaliatory tariffs are estimated to earn India 217 million dollars in additional revenue.
On June 21, 2018, India decided to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports after the Donald Trump administration decided to significantly hike customs duties on certain steel and aluminum products. As India is one of the major exporters of these items to the U.S., the decision resulted in a 240 million dollars revenue loss for the domestic industry.
The GSP withdrawal came into effect on June 5 this year. It impacts goods worth $5.5 billion from India to the U.S.
While import duty on walnut has been hiked to 120 percent from 30 percent, duty on chickpeas, Bengal Gram and Masur dal will be raised to 70 percent from 30 percent at present. The levy on lentils will be increased to 40 percent.
The import duty on boric acid and binders for foundry molds would be hiked to 7.5 percent, while that on domestic reagents will be increased to 10 percent. Duty on Artemia, a kind of shrimp, will be hiked to 15 percent.
The other products on which duties will be hiked include certain kind of nuts, iron and steel products, apples, pears, flat-rolled products of stainless steel, other alloy steel, tube, and pipe fittings, and screws, bolts and rivets.
India has also dragged the U.S. to the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism over the imposition of import duties on steel and aluminum. India exports steel and aluminum products worth about $1.5 billion to the U.S. every year.
India’s exports to the U.S. in 2017-18 stood at $47.9 billion, while imports were at $26.7 billion. The trade balance is in favor of India.
