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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (May25/19) Yerevan, 14 May (D. Ravi Kanth) — India on 12 May informed the World Trade Organization’s Council for Trade in Goods of its proposed decision to suspend concessions and other obligations to the United States worth billions of dollars, following the Trump administration’s imposition of an alleged safeguard duty of 25% on steel and aluminum products. In light of steel and aluminum exports from India to the American market worth $7.6 billion having been hit due to the steep tariff of 25% imposed by the Trump administration in March, India said that it is reserving its right to suspend concessions and other obligations under Article 8.2 of the Agreement on Safeguards (AoS). India filed the notification at the WTO on 12 May, informing that the duties on steel and aluminium “have not been notified by the United States to the WTO, but are, in essence, safeguard measures.” India said, “the measures taken by the United States are not consistent with the GATT 1994 and AoS.” Earlier, the US had lost a trade dispute with several countries over its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. “As consultations provided for under Article 12.3, AoS have not taken place, India reserves the right to suspend concessions or other obligations under Article 8, AoS that are substantially equivalent to the adverse effects of the measure to India’s trade,” India argued in its notice to the WTO. India said the proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations, “takes the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States.” “Without prejudice to the effective exercise of its right to suspend substantially equivalent obligations referred to in Article 8.2, AoS, India reserves its right to suspend concessions or other obligations after the expiration of thirty days from the date of this notification,” India said. According to New Delhi, “the safeguard measures would affect US$7.6 billion imports into the United States of the relevant products originating in India, on which the duty collection would be US$1.91 billion. Accordingly, India’s proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the United States.” Further, India said “to ensure the effective exercise of its right to suspend substantially equivalent concessions or other obligations referred to in Article 8.2, India reserves its right to adjust the products as well as the tariff rates.” India said that it “reserves the right to withdraw, modify, supplement or replace this notification, and/or make a further notification or notifications as and when required,” to ensure that the objective under Article 8, AoS is met at all times. +
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