India Extends Deadline For Imposition Of Higher Import Duties On 29 U.S. Products  

For the third time since August, India extended the deadline for the imposition of higher customs duties on 29 U.S. products.

The duties will come into effect from Dec. 17, the government said on Thursday. The commerce ministry had asked its finance counterpart to further push the deadline for the roll-out of duty hike. In June, India decided to impose retaliatory tariffs from Aug. 4. But it was extended by another 45 days till Sept.18 and then again till Nov. 2.

As part of imposition of higher import duties, New Delhi has notified higher tariffs on several products.

• Import duty on walnuts is set to be hiked to 120 percent from the current 30 percent tariff.
• Duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal will be hiked to 70 percent from 30 percent.
• Levy on lentils will be hiked to 40 percent from 30 percent.

Other products which would attract higher duties include boric acid, phosphoric acid, diagnostic reagent, flat rolled products of iron, certain flat rolled products of stainless steel. The duty hike move by India was in retaliation to U.S. President Donald Trump's March 9 decision to impose heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items.

Senior officials of India and the U.S. are in discussions to finalise a kind of trade deal. Both the sides hold two track discussions -- to increase trade in short and medium term, and identify long term trade potentials.

Meanwhile, the U.S. on Thursday ended duty-free concessions on import of about 50 Indian products, mostly from the handloom and agriculture sectors. These goods enjoyed a duty-free access to the U.S. market under the generalized system of preferences.