New Delhi: India has lifted additional tariffs on about half a dozen US products, including chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were imposed in 2019 in response to America’s decision to raise tariffs on some steel and aluminium products ahead of Modi-Biden meet at the G20 forum.
India imposed these tariffs on 28 US products in 2019 in retaliation for the US move.
In a notification dated September 5, the Ministry of Finance announced the abolition of customs duties on products including chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, walnuts in shell and almonds, fresh or dried, as well as almonds without shell.
This action is being taken in advance of US President Joe Biden’s trip to India to attend the G20 conference on September 9–10, which will be preceded by a private meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
During the prime minister’s state visit to the US in June, the two countries agreed to end six WTO (World Trade Organization) disputes and also to remove retaliatory tariffs on some US products.
Under the agreement, India will remove additional duty on chickpeas (10 per cent), lentils (20 per cent), fresh or dried almonds (R7 per kg), shelled almonds (R20 per kg), walnuts (20 per cent) and fresh apples ( 20 percent).
In July, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that the government had decided to remove retaliatory duties on imports of almonds (fresh or dried, in shell), walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents and boric acid .
Removing retaliatory tariffs or reducing import duties with the US did not result in India losing out, she said.
The US is India’s largest trading partner. In 2022-23, bilateral trade in goods increased to $128.8 billion from $119.5 billion in 2021-22.
