India hikes import duty on US farm produce, bikes

In-line with the counter import duty hikes imposed by EU and China on goods originating from US, the Indian government has proposed to increase duty on apples, walnuts and non-alloy steel exported by the Americans.

The new list of goods imported from US that will attracted higher import duty is being drafted and the announcement about the same is expected during the day, said news reports. Farm produces including US apples, lentil such as chana, masur, dry fruits such as walnut, prunes, almonds; chemicals and cement; finished goods like medical device, motorcycle and non-alloy steel and iron are expected to feature in the list.

According to some reports, the revised tariffs will be applicable with immediate effect, while other expect them to be levied from August 4, 2018.

The deepening of the trade war crisis and the expected retaliatory import tariffs seem to have smothered the market. At 11:36 hours, BSE Sensex was at 35,517.18, down by 30.15 or 0.08 per cent.