According to news from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, after US Trade Representative Dai Qi visited India recently, the United States announced that it would abandon 25% tariffs on 25 Indian export products, including furniture, rice, and gold jewelry.
The 25% import tariff was revoked in retaliation for India’s levy of a 2% consumption tax on Amazon, Facebook, Google, and other technology and e-commerce companies’ revenues in the country since April last year.
At the end of June, Dai Qi has even announced a list of 25% additional tariffs, including 7 categories of bedroom furniture and seats:
9401.69.20 Seats made of curved wood;
9401.69.40 Teak frame, chair without upholstery;
9401.69.60 Wooden frames, non-teak wood, and unupholstered chairs;
9401.69.80 Seats with wooden frames without upholstery.
9403.50.40 Curved wood furniture used in bedrooms (not 9401 or 9402);
9403.50.90 Non-curved wood finished wood furniture (not 9401 or 9402), used in the bedroom and not for motor vehicles;
9403.83.00 Rattan furniture and parts thereof.
The trade war between the United States and India began in 2018 when Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imported from India. In 2019, Trump also canceled special treatment for some Indian exports, mainly low-tech products and handicrafts. Subsequently, India retaliated by imposing higher tariffs on 28 American products.
After Biden took office, he opened a new front in the trade war with India, but at the same time, negotiations with India are also intensifying.
The U.S. Treasury Department stated on the 24th that the U.S. has reached an agreement with India to resolve the dispute on the basis of the international agreement on the taxation of multinational corporations finalized by 137 countries last month, which also gave up 25% for the U.S. Trade Representative Office. The import tariffs have paved the way.
After final negotiations, the United States still announced its abandonment of expropriation. It is worth mentioning that more than a month ago, the United States also reached an agreement with Vietnam to stop investigations and not impose new tariffs.
