Items on which the retaliatory duty has been removed include lentils, almonds, walnuts and apples.
New Delhi:
The basic tariffs and other charges will continue on eight products, including apple and walnut from the US as well as other countries, a senior government official said on Friday.
Additional secretary in the commerce ministry Peeyush Kumar said India had imposed retaliatory duties on 28 US products in 2019 against US move to impose duties on certain steel and aluminum products.
He added that India has levied retaliatory duties on only eight products – chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, apples, boric acid, diagnostic reagents – in 2023 and the value of imports to India from the US was $1.08 billion in 2022 – 23.
In return, India has gained indefinite market access to the US through commitments to grant approval to 70 percent and 80 percent of exclusion requests for Indian steel and aluminum products, respectively.
Total approved volume is 3.36 lakh MT (metric tonnes) and its total value is $1.01 billion, Mr Kumar told reporters here.
“The existing BCD (basic duty) rates of all the 8 products along with applicable surcharge, cess, IGST etc. are applicable to these imports from all countries including the US,” he said.
Additionally, he said Indian apples would be protected from low-quality dumping and underpricing through the minimum import price (MIP) of Rs 50 per kilogram for imports from all countries except Bhutan.
The reprisals being removed are 10 per cent on chickpeas, 20 per cent on lentils, Rs 7-20 per quintal. kg of almonds; and 20 percent each on walnuts, apple, boric acid and diagnostic reagents.
BCD on these items is 60 per cent on chickpea, 30 per cent on lentils, Rs 35-100 per kg on almonds, Rs 100 per cent on walnut; 50 percent each on apples, 7.5 percent on boric acid and 10 percent on diagnostic reagents.
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