In the wake of Washington’s removal of important trade rights for New Delhi, India will enforce greater retaliatory tariffs on 28 U.S. products including almonds, apples and walnuts.
The new duties come into effect starting Sunday, a government official said, in the latest trade row since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in 2017 vowing to act against countries with a large trade deficit in Washington.
Since June 5, President Trump has stripped India of trade privileges under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the largest beneficiary of a scheme that has allowed up to $5.6 billion in duty-free exports.
In June 2018, the Indian govt released an undertaking to increase import tariffs as large as 120 percent on a number of American-made products. But on several occasions it was postponed by New Delhi as its trade discussions with Washington continued.
The standoff between New Delhi and Washington started last March when US President Donald Trump introduced steel export duties of 25% and aluminum goods prices of 10%. India was struck hard by the switch as a significant exporter of those products to the American market, losing about $240 million.
Two sides have been trying to find common ground for over a year, but trade talks collapsed earlier in June after the US withdrew export incentives to Indian businesses under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, affecting goods worth $5.5 billion.
Over the past decade, the US and India have been major trading partners, with turnover in 2018 in excess of $142 billion.
