India raises import duties on agriculture, steel products to protest US tariff hike

India has increased import duties on some agricultural and steel products that are imported from the United States in retaliation against Washington's new global tariff on steel and aluminium.

Last week, India had submitted a revised list of 30 items — including motorcycle, certain iron and steel goods, boric acid and lentils — to the WTO on which it proposed to raise customs duty by up to 50 percent.

You can check the full list of tariff imposed on various items here.

The hiked tariff is reported to cost America about $240 million, equal to the implications of US' tariff on India.

"The US would be collecting $241 million worth of duties by hiking tariff on certain steel and aluminium items from India, we also proposed to withdraw concessions of similar amount from these 30 products imported by India from the US," a government source told PTI.

Earlier in May, India had proposed to raise duties by up to 100 percent on 20 products such as almonds, apple and specific motorcycles imported from the US.

India has also lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US stating that the imposition of tariff on steel and aluminium is inconsistency and discriminatory.

On March 9, US President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariff on imported steel and aluminium items, a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

Trump signed two proclamations that levied a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico.