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India is contemplating imposing import duties on specific US goods as a response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium, according to a filing with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In a document dated May 12, India stated it is reacting to Trump’s March decision to increase tariffs on trade partners and introduce sector-specific levies on steel, aluminium, and automobiles. This move extends tariffs initially implemented during Trump’s first presidential term in 2018.
India informed the WTO that it considers the US duties to be “safeguard measures,” which allow for retaliatory actions.
“The proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations takes the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States,” the document stated, though it did not specify which products might be affected.
India, a major global steel producer, argued that the US measures would impact $7.6 billion worth of Indian goods, with an estimated $1.91 billion in duties collected.
“Accordingly, India’s proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the United States,” it said.
This argument mirrors the one used by India and other nations to justify retaliatory tariffs against the US during Trump’s first term.
At that time, the US contested that its tariffs were safeguard measures and initiated WTO disputes against the retaliatory tariffs.
While India and the US reached a mutual agreement in 2023, avoiding 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.
