India tells US it won’t accept caps on steel, aluminium exports
India has said steel, aluminium exports worth $1.2 billion to the US were impacted after the tariff hike in March
New Delhi: India has turned down a Donald Trump administration offer to waive tariff hikes on steel and aluminium in exchange for India capping exports of these items at 70% of its total exports to the US last year.
India has maintained that exports of these items to the US form a minuscule portion of total imports by the US and no quantitative quota should be put in place.
“We have made it clear that we will not accept any caps on India’s steel and aluminium exports to the US," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.
India has claimed that steel and aluminium exports worth $1.2 billion to the US have been impacted after the tariff hike in March, with the US collecting additional revenue worth $241 million.
India is currently negotiating a trade package with the US and has been demanding a waiver on tariff hikes similar to the ones US granted to Argentina, Brazil and South Korea.
Both sides have concluded three rounds of talks and assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asian affairs Mark Linscott is expected to visit India this month for the next round of negotiations.
India’s exports of steel items to the US plunged 42% in the June quarter, affected by sanctions slapped by the Trump administration, invoking national security, even as exports of aluminium items to the US, facing similar sanctions, jumped 59%, Mint reported on 3 September.
Trump has often pointed to the bilateral trade surplus India enjoys, claiming that it restricts US exports through higher tariffs.
On Friday, Trump said he wanted to stop the subsidies that growing economies such as India and China have been receiving as he wants the US, which he considers a “developing nation", to grow faster than others.
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