The Indian government will enter into bilateral talks to resolve any trade dispute instead of resorting to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the event of US tariff protection on steel imports from India, a senior government official said on Tuesday, February 27.
The government official said that, given rising Indo-US relations and increasing political and economic engagements between the two countries, all issues likely to emanate from the imposition of tariff protection against steel imports from India under Section 232 will be tackled through bilateral negotiations at the trade level diplomatic channels.
The US Department of Commerce has already recommended to President Trump high tariffs on steel imports from several countries including India, but India's Ministry of Commerce will not take the dispute to the WTO as the Indian government is "optimistic" of pushing India’s interests more successfully through bilateral talks, the official added.
Unofficially, government sources pointed out that the Indian government is unlikely to come under pressure from domestic steel companies considering that the US is on the decline as an important destination for Indian steel as is evident from data like Indian steel exports to the US in the April-November period of 2017, which were estimated at a value of $230 million, compared to $330 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.