India has option to hit back at EU tariffs with retaliatory custom duties

India has the option to propose the imposition of retaliatory customs duties under the WTO norms on goods imported of a certain value from the EU, as the two sides have failed to reach a consensus on the European Union's safeguard measures on some steel products, an official has said.

The EU has extended safeguard duties on certain steel imports, scheduled to expire this month, by another two years till 2026.

This is the second extension of the safeguards that take the form of the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), first imposed in 2018.

India is one of the countries affected by this measure as it has a substantial interest in steel exports to the EU.

In 2023-24, India's iron and steel and their products exports to the EU increased to USD 6.64 billion from USD 6.1 billion in 2022-23.

India, along with other countries, has earlier raised concerns at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the European Union's (EU) move to extend safeguard duty on the import of certain steel products till ...