India has recently abolished additional duties on specific American products such as chickpeas, lentils, and apples, coinciding with the impending arrival of US President Joe Biden for a three-day visit to the country. These extra tariffs had been imposed back in 2019 in response to the United States’ decision to raise tariffs on certain steel and aluminum items.
Initially, India had imposed these duties on 28 US products in 2019. However, the decision to eliminate these duties on American products was officially communicated through a notification from the Finance Ministry dated September 5. The notification outlined the removal of duties on items such as chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, shelled walnuts, and fresh or dried almonds, among others.
This development precedes President Biden’s visit to India for the G20 summit, scheduled for September 9-10, during which he is also scheduled to engage in bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8.
Earlier, during Prime Minister Modi’s state visit to the United States in June, both nations had reached an agreement to resolve six disputes within the World Trade Organization (WTO) and mutually eliminate retaliatory tariffs on certain US products. As part of this agreement, India withdrew additional duties on products like chickpeas (10 percent), lentils (20 percent), fresh or dried almonds (Rs 7 per kg), walnuts (20 percent), shelled almonds (Rs 20 per kg), and fresh apples (20 percent).
