Tariff troubles ahead? India proposes retaliatory duties against US over steel and aluminium in WTO

India has approached the World Trade Oraganisation (WTO) with a proposal to impose retaliatory duties against the United States over President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium, according to a PTI report.

The proposal, dated and received on May 9, 2025, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of India, the WTO said in its communication.

India's WTO Proposal Against US Tariffs — What we know

According to a statement from the WTO, the safeguard measures would affect imports of relevant products worth $7.6 billion into the US from India, with duty collection reaching $1.91 billion.

“India's proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in America,” it added.

“India maintains that the measures taken by the US are not consistent with the GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariff) 1994 and AoS (Agreement on safeguards),” it said, adding that “India reserves the right to suspend concessions or other obligations that are substantially equivalent to the adverse effects of the measure to India's trade”.

"The proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations takes the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the US," it added.

India will inform both the Council for Trade in Goods and the Committee on Safeguards of its next steps; and has also taken up the tariff issue bilaterally.

Donald Trump's Tariffs, US' Safeguard Measures — Details

After Donald Trump announced the tariffs in April, India had sought consultations with the US under WTO's safeguard agreement, to which the US responded saying that decision to impose tariffs was based on national security and should thus not be considered as safeguard measures.

Prior to this, in March 2018, the US promoted safeguard measures for some aluminium and steel products, by imposing 10 per cent and 25 per cent ad valorem tariffs, respectively. This was extended in January 2020, and revised again in February 2025 for an unlimited duration. In February and April, with Donald Trump's tariffs spree, this was raised to 25 per cent.

On its end, India in June 2019 slapped customs duties on 28 US products, including almonds and walnuts and filed a complaint in the WTO.

The proposal assumes significance as both countries are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). The Indian team is also visiting this week to the US for trade talks.

(With inputs from PTI)