India removes additional duty on 12 US products ahead of Biden’s visit

India has done away with additional duties on some American products like chickpeas, lentils, and apples, as US President Joe Biden is set to arrive on a three-day visit to India.

These additional duties were imposed in 2019 in response to America’s decision to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products.

India had imposed these duties on 28 US products in 2019.

The decision to remove these duties on American products was taken through a Finance Ministry notification dated September 5. It said that duties have been removed on products like chickpeas, lentils (masur), apples, walnut sin shell and almonds fresh or dried among others.

The move preceded Biden’s visit to India to attend the G20 summit on September 9-10. Before this, he will also have bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 8.

During Modi’s state visit to the US in June, both countries had decided to terminate six WTO (World Trade Organisation) disputes and also remove the retaliatory tariffs on certain US products. As part of the agreement, India removed additional duty on chickpeas (10 per cent), lentils (20 per cent), almonds fresh or dried (Rs 7 per kg), almonds shelled (Rs 20 per kg), walnuts (20 per cent), and apples fresh (20 per cent).

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