India said on Saturday that delayed higher tariffs against some goods imported from the United States will go into force on September 18.
India said on Saturday that delayed higher tariffs against some goods imported from the United States will go into force on September 18.
New Delhi, incensed by Washington's refusal to exempt it from new tariffs, decided in June to raise import tax from August 4 on some US products, including almonds, walnuts and apples, and later delayed the move.
Officials from New Delhi and Washington, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, are scheduled to hold a series of meetings including strategic talks with their Indian counterparts in September.
Trade differences between India and the United States have been rising since President Donald Trump took office. Bilateral trade rose to $115 billion in 2016, but the Trump administration wants to reduce its $31 billion deficit with India, and is pressing New Delhi to ease trade barriers.
India, the world's biggest buyer of U.S. almonds, in June decided to raise import duties on the commodity by 20 per cent, joining the European Union and China in retaliating against Trump's tariff hikes on steel and aluminium.
It had also planned to impose a 120 per cent duty on the import of walnuts in the strongest action yet against the United States.
India has proposed to buy petroleum products from the US to help narrow the trade deficit. The United States has also emerged as a top arms supplier to India and US companies are bidding for military aircraft deals worth billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the US' export to India in both goods and services has increased this year, resulting in substantial drop in trade deficit as compared with the last year, according to the latest official figures.
As per the figures available with the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Census, in the first six months of this year, America's export to India in merchandise increased by 28.42 per cent from USD 12.1 billion to USD 15.5 billion.
During the same period, India's export to the US in goods increased by 13.11 per cent from $23.6 billion in 2017 to $26.8 billion.
The total bilateral trade in the first six months of the year increased by 18.4 per cent from $35.7 billion in 2017 to $42.36 billion in 2018. The trade deficit in goods registered a decline of 2.54 per cent, according to the figures.
The bilateral trade figures in the services sector for the first six months are yet to be revealed.
However, in the first quarter of 2018, the deficit in bilateral trade in services declined by a whopping 42.9 per cent from $11.89 billion to $678 million.
India's export to the US in the services sector in the first quarter of the year increased by 1.83 per cent from $6.8 billion to $7 billion.
During the same period, America's export to India in the services sector increased by 11.19 per cent from $5.69 billion to $6.3 billion, the figures stated.
(With inputs from agencies)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Govt to impose delayed tariffs on some US goods in September")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}