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The United States has said it is open to discussing the extra duties it has placed on steel and aluminium imports from India, but it wants those talks to happen outside the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The statement from Washington came after India formally reached out to the WTO, asking for consultations under the international safeguard agreement over the US decision to impose a 25% duty on steel and aluminum. These duties have been in place since March 12, after they were first introduced by the Donald Trump administration back in 2018.
India Disagrees with US Justification
India has argued that these duties are safeguard measures in disguise — even though the US has claimed they were introduced to protect national security under Section 232 of its own laws.
In its official response to the WTO, the US rejected India’s claim, saying, “These actions are not safeguard measures and, therefore, there is no basis to conduct consultations under the agreement on safeguards with respect to these measures.”
According to the US, since the duties were imposed under national security grounds, they don’t fall under the scope of WTO’s safeguard rules.
Tariff Disputes Go Back to 2018
This isn’t the first time the US and India have clashed over trade tariffs. In 2018, when Trump first announced the additional tariffs on steel and aluminium, India hit back a year later by imposing its own tariffs on a range of American products. These included almonds, apples, chickpeas, walnuts, lentils, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents, among others.
Both countries ended up filing complaints at the WTO against each other, deepening the trade tensions between the two sides at the time.
Old Disputes Were Settled in 2023
However, things changed in 2023, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US during President Joe Biden’s term. During that trip, both countries agreed to end all ongoing WTO disputes, including those related to steel and aluminium tariffs.
In total, seven trade disputes were settled through negotiations, rather than going through full WTO legal proceedings.
Other Trade Tensions Between US and India
Tariffs aren’t the only issue the two countries have taken to the WTO over the years.
One case involved US complaints about India’s policies on solar cells and modules, while India raised concerns about countervailing duties the US had imposed on hot-rolled carbon steel flat products coming from India.
These kinds of disputes have often added friction to the broader trade relationship between the two democracies.
Talks on a Trade Deal Are Underway
While tensions over steel and aluminium duties still linger, this time the situation might be different. The US and India are currently in the middle of talks on a broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA) — something that could reshape their economic relationship.
Speaking on Thursday, Donald Trump, now back in the picture for a second term, said, “The US was moving very quickly for a deal with India.”
This suggests that despite the disagreement over the WTO route, both countries are trying to move forward and resolve trade issues directly, through dialogue and negotiations rather than public disputes.
