India Submits Complaints to WTO on US Tariffs

India has filed a complaint against the United States to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Indian officials said last month that their government would challenge the WTO unless the country's firms were granted a tariff exemption.

Trump imposed tariffs in March, charging 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum. He said they are justified by national security concerns and therefore outside the WTO.

India, China, Russia, Japan, Turkey and the European Union have all rejected this demand for US tariffs as "guarantees" under WTO rules, giving them the ability to add up $ 3.5 billion in annual compensation.

India's retaliation claim seeks to recover $ 31 million in costs levied on aluminum exports and $ 134 million on steel, and said it could retaliate against American exports of soybean oil, palmolein and cashews as retaliation.

Its latest legal challenge is to force the United States to abandon tariffs entirely. This follows a similar move by China last month, which Washington called "completely unfounded."

According to WTO rules, the United States has 60 days to resolve the complaint, after which India can ask the WTO to create an expert group to make a decision.

However, uncertainty hangs over the WTO dispute settlement system because Trump vetoes the appointment of new appellate judges.

In its complaint, India indicated that US tariffs violate WTO rules and unfairly harm India's interests.

It said they had violated the WTO's safeguards agreement, and the United States tried to use its tariffs to force other countries to agree to "voluntary export restrictions."