India Proposes 15% Retaliatory Duties on UK Imports for Restrictions on Steel Products

September 29, 2022 Posted by India Briefing Written by Naina Bhardwaj Reading Time: 3 minutes

On September 28, 2022, India proposed retaliatory additional duty of 15 percent on 22 imports items from the UK, including blended whiskey, Scotch, cheese, etc. The move comes as a response to curbs imposed by the UK on import of 15 steel products, which caused a slump in Indian exports and resulted in loss of duty collection worth US$247.70 million.

In retaliation to the United Kingdom’s move to impose restrictions on steel products, India has proposed additional customs duties of 15 percent on the import of 22 items from the UK. This retaliatory move, announced on September 28, 2022, comes as a response to the tariff-rate quotas on 15 steel product categories imposed by the UK with an out-of-quota duty of 25 percent.

In a communication to World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Council for Trade in Goods, India notified the global trade body of its decision to suspend concessions or other obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards that are substantially equivalent to the amount of trade affected by the safeguards UK has put in place.

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India also specified that these curbs on steel products by the UK have resulted in a decline of Indian exports to the tune of 2,19,000 tons, on which duty collection would have otherwise amounted to US$247.70 million.

Both India and UK held consultations on August 5, 2022 virtually to discuss the extensions of the safeguard by the UK on concerned steel products, originally applied by the European Union (EU). It must be noted that these extensions have been expanded several times starting October, 2020.

However, on September 1, 2022, India communicated to the WTO that if no agreement is reached between both countries on the matter of compensation, India would reserve its right to suspend concessions or other obligations substantially equivalent to the adverse effects of the measures on the UK’s trade. As a consequence, India announced additional custom duty of 15 percent, equivalent to the amount of duty collected from products originating in the UK.

Which imported items from UK will face 15 percent additional duties?

UK Import Items Attracting 15 Percent Additional Duty
HS codes	Product description	India’s import from UK (Average of FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22) (In US$ million)	Duty collected (In US$ million)
04063000	Processed cheese not grated/powdered	0.425	0.064
22083012	Scotch in containers holding two liters or less	17.2	2.58
22083013	Blended whiskey in containers holding two liter or less	51.03	7.654
22085011	Gin in containers holding two liters or less	3.52	0.528
23099020	Concentrated for compound animal feed	2.255	0.338
27111200	Liquified propane	59.325	8.898
27111300	Liquified butanes	56.76	8.514
33019060	Aqueous distillates of essential oils	21.905	3.285
33049990	Beauty or make up preparations and preparations for the skincare	47.2	7.08
33079090	Other cosmetic and toilet preparations	1.725	0.258
71021000	Unsorted diamonds which are not worked, not mounted	64.14	9.621
71023100	Non-industrial diamonds unworked, simply sawn or cleaved	29.5	4.425
71069220	Silver (including silver plated with gold or platinum) other, semi manufactured	275.225	41.283
71069290	All other semi manufactured forms of silver	412.68	61.902
71081200	Other non-monetary unwrought forms of gold	294.915	44.237
71101900	Platinum in other forms	43.56	6.534
84099990	Other parts of semi diesel engines	22.735	3.410
84111200	Turbo-jets of a thrust greater than 25 kilonewtons (kN)	143.135	21.470
84212900	Other filtering/purifying machinery and apparatus for liquids	15.725	2.358
84219900	Other parts of filtering/purifying machinery	37	5.55
85311090	Other alarms	4.165	0.624
85444290	Other electric conductors fitted with connectors less than or equal to 1000 volts excluding paper plastic and rubber insulated	47.45	7.117
Total			247.73

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