US Cites National Security Grounds, Procedural Errors to Reject India's Notice at WTO
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The United States has rejected India’s notice at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that had proposed retaliatory action against the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.
While rejecting the notice, the US has said that the tariffs were imposed on national security grounds and also pointed out “procedural errors” in India’s case, reported Indian Express.
The US, in its note dated May 23 has said that India is wrongly treating the tariffs on steel and aluminium as safeguard measures.
It added that these tariffs were imposed under US law (Section 232), which enables such action if imports are considered a threat to national security.
“The United States will not discuss the Section 232 tariffs under the Agreement on Safeguards as we do not view the tariffs as a safeguard measure,” the US told the WTO Council for Trade in Goods, while responding to India’s challenge.
Earlier on Friday (June 3) US president Donald Trump had announced that import tariffs on steel would be doubled to 50 per cent, a move that exporters have termed unfortunate.
“India never acknowledged the United States’ offer to discuss these tariffs in our response dated 16 April 2025. Accordingly, India has not complied with the obligations under the Agreement on Safeguards, the agreement that it mistakenly contends applies to the tariffs in question,” the US note said.
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