NEW DELHI, July 4. /TASS/. India wants to impose retaliatory duties on the US over the tariffs imposed by Washington on cars and spare parts from that country, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reported in a notification.
On March 26, the US decided to increase the duty on imports of passenger cars and light trucks, as well as on some car parts from India by 25%. These measures have been applied since May 3, and their validity is unlimited. India claims that these actions violate WTO rules.
Since the consultations requested by New Delhi on these tariffs did not take place, "India reserves the right to suspend concessions or other obligations," the WTO said.
The safeguard measures will affect $2,895 million worth of relevant goods from India to the United States annually, which will attract a duty of $723.75 million.
"Accordingly, India's proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating from the US," the statement said.
India and the United States are negotiating an interim trade agreement to develop trade ties. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that the United States and India are capable of reaching an agreement on the terms of bilateral trade within a week. According to him, this will be a deal that provides for US access to the Indian market. He noted that India is now not allowing anyone in, but if it does this [with the United States], then a deal will be concluded that provides for much lower duties on imports of Indian goods and services to the United States.
On April 2, the American leader announced the introduction of customs duties on products from 185 countries and territories. Universal tariffs of 10% came into force on April 5, individual ones - on April 9. The tariff on India was 26%. On April 9, Trump announced that he was suspending tariff increases for 90 days on 75 countries that had shown a willingness to negotiate, while import tariffs of 10% would apply to them. The American leader said he was open to discussing tariff levels with trading partners.