India proposes counter tariffs following US safeguard measures on steel, aluminium

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India has proposed to impose counter duties on select products from the US in response to American tariffs on steel and aluminium, the South Asian nation said in a notice to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 12 May.

The US’s tariffs on steel and aluminium were introduced as safeguard measures on 12 March 2025.

India reserves the right to suspend concessions or other obligations that are substantially equivalent to the adverse effects of the measure to India’s trade, India said in its statement to the WTO.

“The proposed suspension of concessions or other obligations takes the form of an increase in tariffs on selected products originating in the United States,” it added.

“The US safeguard measures would affect $7.6 billion imports into the US of the relevant products originating in India, on which the duty collection would be $1.91 billion,” the notice said.

In April, India had sought consultations with the US under the WTO’s safeguard agreement, following the US decision to impose these tariffs.

On the request for consultation, the US informed the global trade body that its decision was based on national security grounds and should not be considered as safeguard measures.

The US first implemented safeguard measures on imports of certain steel and aluminium products in March 2018. It imposed ad valorem tariffs of 25% and 10% respectively. This was extended in January 2020.

It was revised again in February 2025 for an unlimited duration and was raised to 25%.

In response, India in June 2019 imposed duties on 28 US products, including almonds, walnuts, phosphoric acid, and iron and steel products among others.

The proposal assumes significance as both countries are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with an Indian official team expected to visit the US this month for trade talks.

The BTA seeks to more than double bilateral trade between the two countries to $500 billion by 2030. Total goods trade between the two countries stood at around $129.2 billion in calendar year 2024, as per official data.

Visit the US tariffs, policy – impact on chemicals and energy topic page for the latest update on the US-China 90-day pause with significantly reduced tariffs while negotiations take place.