India’s trade ministry has written to the US government, asking that it also be exempted from the 25 percent levy on steel and 10 percent on aluminum saying that Indian exports of the two products do not pose a security threat to the US. The US accounts for 2 percent of India’s steel exports.
According to the Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, the tariffs will affect Indian exports and their emerging economy not only in regards its effect on domestic production but also the possibility of an increased supply of redirected steel goods to its shores.
President Trump has previously highlighted as “unfair” tariffs that India has imposed on dozens of products in recent months as part of its steps to boost the domestic industry. Unlike the outcome for other countries who have reached out to Trump’s administration, the meeting between US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer and Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale almost two weeks did not result in a temporary exemption. Adding to the unlikely possibility of a rapid exemption is a 14 March statement by House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady after the US challenged India’s export subsidy programs at the World Trade Organization (WTO). He said, “I join the Administration in calling on India to end its unfair trading immediately.”