India Considers Imposing Import Duties on US Goods in Response to Trump’s Tariffs
In response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, India is contemplating imposing import duties on specific US goods. This move comes after Trump’s decision in March to increase tariffs on trade partners and introduce sector-specific levies on steel, aluminum, and automobiles, extending tariffs implemented during his first term in 2018.
According to a filing with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dated May 12, India considers the US duties to be “safeguard measures,” allowing for retaliatory actions.
India stated in the document that the proposed suspension of concessions would result in an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States. However, the specific products that might be affected were not specified.
India, as a major global steel producer, argues that the US measures would impact $7.6 billion worth of Indian goods, with an estimated $1.91 billion in duties collected. Therefore, India’s proposed suspension of concessions would lead to an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the United States.
This move by India echoes similar actions taken during Trump’s first term, where the US contested that its tariffs were safeguard measures and initiated WTO disputes against retaliatory tariffs from other nations.
Although India and the US reached a mutual agreement in 2023 to avoid a WTO ruling, WTO panels in cases involving China and Turkey sided with the US, ruling that the tariffs were not safeguard measures. These rulings were appealed, but the WTO’s appeals tribunal has been inactive since late 2019 due to US opposition to the appointment of new judges, leaving the appeals unresolved.
