Overview

• India filed a revised WTO notification on July 9–10 to increase its proposed countertariffs from about $1.91 billion to $3.82 billion after U.S. Section 232 duties on steel and aluminium rose to 50%.
• The updated proposal refines product coverage and tariff rates to mirror the impact on $7.6 billion of U.S. imports subject to the safeguard measures.
• India’s action invokes WTO safeguard provisions to justify its retaliation, contrasting with the U.S. reliance on national security grounds for the original tariffs.
• The countermeasures build on past reciprocal duties, including India’s 2019 tariffs on U.S. goods and a recent proposal to target American auto imports.
• The WTO move coincides with U.S.-India bilateral trade agreement talks, with an Indian delegation scheduled to arrive in Washington for further negotiations.