India retaliates US tariffs ahead of Secretary Mike Pompeo visit

India on Saturday said that it will increase customs duties on 28 US products including apples, almonds, pulses, walnut and few chemical substances. The hike also includes food products such as chickpeas, lentils, apples, pears and artemia shrimp whic was later exempted from the list.
The tariffs hike is in response to the Washington’s move to increase taxes on steel and aluminum imports. It can also be in response to Trump administration’s exemption of New Delhi from preferential trade treatment list or the key trade privileges given earlier under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, affecting $5.5 billion-worth of goods.

The tariffs will take place Sunday, an official notification from Finance ministry said. The tariffs will create problems for already reeling US exporters caught between Trump administration’s other trade wars with also the rise in costs for those 28 products in Indian markets.

The latest tariffs from India come just days before Mike Pompeo scheduled visit.
Also, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold talks with Mr Trump on sidelines of G-20 summit in Japan. Prime Minister Modi recently won general elections with a landslide for a second consecutive term following a fierce political campaign.

The new tariffs would allow India to receive around $217 million additional revenue from US imports, a source told India’s leading newspaper Times of India.

The US has been one of very close trade partner of India with turnover standing at around US $142 billion in 2018.