Reserve right of reciprocal tariffs on US products: India to WTO

India has told the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that it reserves the right under organisation norms to impose retaliatory duties on some US products in the wake of America’s tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium products and may even choose to resolve matters as part of bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations underway between the two countries.

Officials in the Commerce Ministry here said India had earlier issued a similar notification to WTO on EU’s steel safeguard measures of 2019 and 2021.

“India’s current notification to the WTO Council for Trade in Goods against US’ steel and aluminium tariffs only reserves India’s right under the Agreement on Safeguards to retaliate at any future date. However, it is for India to decide whether to effectuate these proposed retaliation after 30 days of the notification or later or resolve it as part of ongoing BTA negotiations,” Ministry sources said on a day when India rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims that he helped broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in return for trade concessions.

The MEA here said trade did not feature in any discussion related to the recent tensions between India and Pakistan and the two countries bilaterally reached an understanding to pause hostilities.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will later this week visit Washington for talks with US counterparts on the proposed BTA. The chief negotiators of India and the US will meet between May 19 and 22. On the table are ways to boost two-way trade to $500 billion by 2030 from the present $191 billion.

Trump had slapped 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US. The latest Indian notice to the WTO, dated May 12, is an invocation of India’s rights under WTO Agreement on Safeguards (AoS) provisions. This provision enabled nations to retaliate when another slaps safeguard measures without adequate consultations.

Sources said India had in April sought to discuss issues with the US, but America said its tariffs were imposed on national security grounds and were not safeguard measures. So now, India has proposed it may recover losses from retaliatory duties on selected American goods.

India