India delays imposition of tariffs on US goods till Nov
new delhi — India has delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to November 2, according to a government order that put off for a second time retaliatory action against US import tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Trade differences between India and the United States have risen since President Donald Trump took office, but India’s decision to further delay comes as the two countries negotiate a package to remove trade frictions over a range of items.
Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminium tariffs, New Delhi decided in June to raise the import tax from August 4 on some US products, including almonds, walnuts and apples. The Indian government later delayed imposing the tax until September 18, but with negotiations ongoing it has decided to postpone again.
Earlier this month India and the United States signed an accord on secure military communication. The agreement had been stalled for years because of India’s concerns that it would open up its communications network to the US military.
Separately, Trump escalated his trade war with China on Monday, imposing 10 per cent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Meanwhile, Indian farmers and US manufacturers of medical devices could be among the main winners in a trade package under negotiation, as Washington and New Delhi look to remove longstanding irritants to ties, sources familiar with the talks said.
Having skirmished for months over tit-for-tat tariffs on steel and some agricultural products, the two sides began talks in June that also cover India’s concerns over US steel tariffs and US problems with Indian tariffs on imported IT equipment.
“We are closely negotiating a discrete package of trade issues. It will amount to a pretty substantive agreement,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Neither the office of the United States Trade Representative or India’s trade ministry responded to a request for comment. The source said the two sides expected to close the deal in the next few weeks.
US President Donald Trump, who dislikes multilateral trade agreements, said earlier this month that India had approached the United States to “start doing a trade deal,” without giving any details.
The current discussions, however, are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction, and are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement, sources from both sides said.