India has raised tariffs on 28 items exported from the US with effect in retaliation to America’s withdrawal of preferential access for Indian products from 5 June.
The final notification of tariffs issued by the finance ministry late on Saturday night, minutes before the tariffs came into force, does not include one item that was there in the earlier list, artemia, a type of shrimp.
The commerce ministry had on Friday made public India’s intention to go ahead with imposition of duty on American products, a move New Delhi had previously deferred in the hope of striking a trade deal.
The notification seeks to “. . . implement the imposition of retaliatory duties on 28 specified goods originating in or exported from USA and preserving the existing most favoured nation (MFN) rate for all these goods for all countries other than USA".
The duties were in retaliation to the US decision of significantly hiking customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products. Among the targeted imports, duty on walnut has been raised from 30% to 120%, while duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal has been raised from 30% to 70%.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who returned to office for a second term with a landslide victory last month, on Saturday urged chief ministers to optimise their manufacturing and export potential. This sentiment is likely to get reflected in the Union budget for FY20 that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present in Parliament early next month.
Hello EnglishHello English
