India's small exporters seek import duty cuts to counter U.S. steel, aluminium tariffs

India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal is in the U.S. for trade talks, aiming to negotiate potential tariff cuts as part of the proposed trade deal and to assess the impact of Mr. Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs

India's small engineering goods exporters have urged the government to cut import tariffs on some U.S. goods to try and achieve more favourable trade terms as President Donald Trump prepares to implement new steel and aluminium duties, the head of an industry body said. The 25% U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, effective March 12, have raised Indian exporters' concerns about declining orders and rising costs.

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"Of India's $20 billion annual engineering goods exports, nearly $7.5 billion worth of shipments could be affected," said Pankaj Chadha, chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council, which represents more than 10,000 small exporters.

The EEPC and other industry chambers have urged the government to cut tariffs on select U.S. goods with low inbound shipments, Mr. Chadha told Reuters on Wednesday.

They expect that lowering such tariffs could prompt the Trump administration to offer favourable terms and move forward with a proposed bilateral trade deal. Trump has labelled India a high-tariff country and warned of "reciprocal tariffs" from early April.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is in the U.S. for trade talks, aiming to negotiate potential tariff cuts as part of the proposed trade deal and to assess the impact of Mr. Trump's planned reciprocal tariffs.

India could, for instance, cut import duty on U.S. steel scrap from 7.5% to nearly zero, and reduce tariffs on nuts, castings and forgings while offering concessions on selected agricultural and manufacturing items, Mr. Chadha said.