India has imposed retaliatory tariffs on over 20 products imported from the U.S., a government official said on Friday, after Washington withdrew certain trade privileges this month.
The move came after the U.S. decided to end preferential trade treatment for India starting from June 5 and is expected to aggravate trade tensions between the two countries.
“The items which will carry higher tariffs will be notified by the Department of Revenue later tonight or tomorrow,’’ a spokeswoman for the Commerce Ministry said.
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India and the U.S. enjoy close bilateral ties; however, Washington has long accused India of being a “high-tariff country’’ that limits access to its huge market.
New Delhi had termed the U.S. withdrawal from the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) as “unfortunate’’ and said India would always uphold its national interest in such matters.
India’s decision on higher levies comes ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo scheduled for end of June.
Pompeo, in recent remarks at a meeting of the U.S.-India Business Council in Washington, had said “some tough topics,’’ including the GSP programme were likely to be on the table during his New Delhi visit.
“We remain open to dialogue and hope that our friends in India will drop their trade barriers and trust in the competitiveness of their own companies,’’ Pompeo said. (NAN)
