BackIndia lifts tariff on some US goods ahead of G20 summit, Modi-Biden meeting
India removes additional duties on US products including chickpeas, lentils, and apples ahead of Biden's visit.
PremiumIndia has lifted additional duties on several American products, such as chickpeas, lentils, and apples. The fees were imposed in 2019 in response to the United States' decision to raise tariffs on specific steel and aluminium items. These retaliatory duties were originally imposed on 28 US products.
The Indian Finance Ministry, in a notification dated September 5, announced the removal of these duties on products including chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, walnuts in shells, and fresh or dried almonds, as well as shelled almonds.
This development comes a day before US President Joe Biden's arrival in India for the G20 Summit. The event on September 9-10 will be preceded by a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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During Prime Minister Modi's state visit to the US in June, both nations had agreed to settle six WTO disputes and eliminate retaliatory tariffs on specific US products.
As part of this agreement, India will be scrapping additional duties on chickpeas (10%), lentils (20%), fresh or dried almonds ( ₹7 per kg), shelled almonds ( ₹20 per kg), walnuts (20%), and fresh apples (20%).
In July, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel stated in a written response to the Rajya Sabha that the government had chosen to abolish retaliatory customs duties on the import of fresh or dried almonds (in shell), walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents, and boric acid.
It was clarified that these changes in tariffs did not result in any financial loss for India. The United States is India's largest trading partner, with bilateral goods trade reaching USD 128.8 billion in 2022-23, up from USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22.
(With inputs from agencies)
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