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With India deferring imposition of retaliatory duties on US goods till mid-September, the Steel Ministry is in consultation with the industry to arrive at a broadly acceptable “compromise proposal” to settle the issue of penal tariffs imposed by Washington on import of steel and aluminium from the country.
“There is confusion in our industry on how the contentious issue of tariffs on aluminium and steel should be settled as the US is unwilling to roll back its decision in its entirety. There is a possibility that the US could agree not to impose the additional tariffs on imports within a quota limit. However, there is no agreement within the industry on the minimum quota that should be acceptable to India,” a government official told BusinessLine .
In March, the Trump regime imposed additional import duties of 25 per cent and 10 per cent on steel and aluminium respectively on a number of trading partners including India, China, the EU, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Mexico citing national security concerns.
After trying to convince Washington to withdraw the “unfair” duties against India bilaterally and at the World Trade Organisation, New Delhi issued a notification on June 20 proposing retaliatory import duties on 29 items from the US totalling $241 million from August 4, which has now been deferred to September 18.
According to industry estimates, India exports steel and aluminium worth $1.5 billion to the US annually.
“There is no unanimity amongst steel and aluminium producers on the quota issue. While some are in favour of imposition of quotas, some are not. There is also no agreement on the minimum amount of quota that should be acceptable to India for a deal to be struck with the US. The Steel Ministry is trying to get all sections of the industry on the same page so that a common view can be evolved,” the official added.
Once the Steel Ministry is ready with its latest proposal, it will be shared with the Commerce Ministry for its inputs. “Once the revised proposal is ready, it would be sent to the US Trade Representative’s office for its views. If the USTR is happy with the proposal then the two sides could meet to finalise it,” the official said.
Interestingly, while India has deferred its decision to impose retaliatory duties on the US, others such as China, the EU, Mexico, Turkey and Canada have already put in place such tariffs.
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