India may again extend retaliatory tariff deadline on US products by 30 days

At a time when the tariff war between the US and China has intensified, India is expected to again extend the deadline by a month to impose retaliatory import duties on 29 US products, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18. The previous extension will end on May 16.

According to PTI report, the commerce ministry has asked its finance counterpart to issue a notification with regard to the further extension of the deadline.

These deadlines were extended several times since June 2018, when India decided to impose these duties in retaliation to a move by the US to impose high customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products.

This extension comes in the backdrop of the US decision to withdraw export incentives being provided to Indian exporters under Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme, which is expected to impact India's exports to the US worth $5.6 billion under this scheme. America had given 60 days notice, which ended on May 2 but has yet to withdraw those benefits.

Meanwhile, US commerce scecretary Wilbur Ross and commerce minister Suresh Prabhu held bilateral meetings on May 6 to discuss trade-related issues.

Further extension of GSP benefits was part of a trade package being negotiated between the two countries. However, those negotiations hit a roadblock after the US announced its decision to roll back GSP benefits from Indian exporters.

The US administration has alleged that India in imposing high import duties on products such as paper and Harley Davidson motorcycles from America.