India hiked import tariffs on a slew of products including steel, iron and pulses in a retaliatory action against the tariff hike by the United States, joining China and European Union (EU) in taking counter measures.
Custom duty has been increased on 29 products originating from the US, and the move will come into effect from August 4, a notification issued by the Finance Ministry said.
Last week, India submitted a list of 30 items to the World Trade Organisation on which it proposed to raise customs duty by up to 50 per cent. Though the list mentioned motorcycles, which mainly include Harley Davidson and Triumph, Thursday's notification did not mention duty hike on motorcycles with engine capacity of over 800cc.
This hike is aimed at making domestic products cheaper than imported ones, leading to a pick-up in demand and domestic manufacturing, experts say.
There is a steep hike in import duty on chickpeas (kabuli chana), Bengal gram (chana) and split red lentil (masur dal) rising to 70 per cent from 30 percent; duties on lentils have gone up to 40 per cent from 30 per cent, the Finance Ministry notification said.
Apples will attract import duty of 75 per cent, as against the 50 per cent earlier. Duty on Artemia, a kind of shrimp, has been raised to 30 per cent.
Shelled almonds will now attract import duty at Rs 120 per kg, in contrast to Rs 100 per kg. On the other hand, almonds with shell will attract import duty at the rate of Rs 42 per kg as against Rs 35 per kg. Import duty on whole walnuts has gone up to a whopping 120 per cent from 30 per cent.
The duty on boric acid has been raised to 17.50 per cent, while the same on phosphoric acid has been raised to 20 per cent. Both were at 10 per cent earlier. Import duty on diagnostic regents has been doubled to 20 per cent, while binders for foundry moulds has been hiked to 17.5 per cent.
Flat rolled iron products will be levied 27.50 per cent customs duty, as opposed to the 15 per cent earlier, while certain flat rolled stainless steel products will attract 22.50 per cent duty. Earlier, it was imposed at 15 per cent.
Duties have risen to 25 per cent from 15 per cent for auto mobiles, earth-moving equipment, SIM socket and other metal mechanical items used in the manufacture of cell phones.
The decision to hike duties comes in retaliation to unilateral increase in tariff by USA on steel and aluminium products which had tariff implication of $241 million on India. The Finance Ministry's decision will have equivalent tariff implications for the US.
On March 9, US President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items, a move that has sparked fears of global trade war. The Finance Ministry said US's duty imposition has affected steel exports by $198.6 million and aluminium shipments by $42.4 million. It also dragged USA to WTO's dispute settlement mechanism over the imposition of import duties on steel and aluminium.
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Apples will attract import duty of 75 per cent, as against the 50 per cent earlier. Duty on Artemia, a kind of shrimp, has been raised to 30 per cent.
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