India lifts additional duties on several US products ahead of Biden's arrival for G20 summit

India has lifted additional duties on approximately half a dozen American products, such as chickpeas, lentils and apples, which were levied in the year 2019 in response to the United States' decision to raise tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products.

The Indian Finance Ministry announced the removal of the duties on the products through a notification dated September 5. The products included chickpeas, lentils (Masur), apples, walnuts in shells and almonds fresh or dried, as well as almond shelled.

This move comes before United States President Joe Biden's arrival in India for the G20 Summit. The event on September 9-10 would be preceded by Biden's bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the Indian prime minister's state visit to the United States in June, both countries agreed to call off six WTO (World Trade Organization) disputes and also eliminate the retaliatory tariffs on certain US products.

As part of the agreement, India will be doing away with additional duty on chickpeas (10 per cent), lentils (20 per cent), almonds fresh or dried (Rs 7 per kg), almonds shelled (Rs 20 per kg), walnuts (20 per cent), and apples fresh (20 per cent).

In July, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha stated that the government has determined to withdraw retaliatory customs duties on the import of almonds (fresh or dried, in shell), walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents, and boric acid.

The removal of retaliatory tariffs or cuts in import duty with the United States did not result in a loss to India, she had said.

The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22.

(With inputs from agencies)

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