Ahead of Bilateral Talks, India Notifies WTO About Proposal to Impose Tariffs on Imports from the US

New Delhi: Ahead of commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to the US to participate in talks about a bilateral trade agreement between both the countries, India has notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its proposal to impose tariffs on imports from the US, in retaliation to the US increasing the import duty on steel and aluminium from India to 25%.

In its communication to the WTO, India has said that the reciprocal measures could be implemented in 20 days from the date of sending the notification to the WTO, reported The Hindu.

Earlier this year, at the start of his second term as the President of US, Donald Trump had imposed tariffs of 25% on imports of steel and aluminium and removed all country-specific and product-specific exemptions that most countries had managed to obtain.

“India reserves its right to suspend concessions or other obligations after the expiration of thirty days from the date of this notification (May 9, 2025). Accordingly, India’s proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the United States,” said India’s communication to the WTO.

The move comes at a time when an Indian delegation led by commerce and industry minister Goyal, will hold talks with US trade representative Jaimeson Greer and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick between May 17 and 20, reported the Times of India.

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