India Tells WTO It Wants To Retaliate Against US Tariffs On Steel, Aluminium

India and the European Union (EU) have informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that they want to retaliate against the imposition of high tariffs by US President Donald Trump on steel and aluminium and have provided the body with a list of items that could incur high tariffs in the process, Reuters has reported.

New Delhi has told WTO that Trump's steel tariffs could cost $134 million and aluminium tariffs a further $31 million, listing US exports of soya oil, palm oil and cashew nuts as its potential targets for retaliatory tariffs.

Retaliatory tariffs from India are expected to hurt US exporters, especially the soya oil industry. India imports 3.3 million tonnes of soya oil from the US every year. The US-China trade war has already hit soyabean exporters in the country.

India has said that the tariffs will come into effect on 21 June if the US fails to withdraw the tariffs it has imposed on import of steel and aluminium. EU may impose tariffs on rice, cranberries, bourbon, corn, peanut butter from 20 June.

The Trump administration had imposed 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium in March, giving an exemption to its Mexico and Canada.

Apart from India and the EU, China, South Korea and Russia have told the WTO that they regard the tariffs as “safeguards” and are entitled to compensation.