Sep 6, 2023Retaliatory India tariffs on U.S. almonds ending
Tariffs on the largest U.S. almonds export destination are ending.
According to a Sept. 5 news alert from the Almond Board of California (ABC), elimination of retaliatory India tariffs are scheduled to commence on Sept. 6.
“We are pleased to report that India’s retaliatory tariffs on almonds will be removed effective Wednesday, Sept. 6, bringing the tariff rate back down to 35 rupees per kilogram on inshell and 100 rupees per kg on kernels,” the ABC wrote in a news release. On Sept. 5, India published the notification in the government’s Gazette publication.
During his state visit to Washington, D.C. in June, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to announce the elimination of the tariffs on almonds and a handful of other commodities, including walnuts and apples, but did not set a concrete date, except to say it would happen within 90 days.
“We are very happy to see the retaliatory tariffs removed, which will both help increase demand in India and reduce the cost to consumers there,” Julie Adams, ABC’s vice president for technical and regulatory affairs, said in the release. “The almond industry has been working hard along with government officials to reduce the impediments for exports of California almonds to India, which is our largest export destination. We continue to discuss further opportunities to improve export conditions related to tariffs and technical barriers.”
In response to the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, India in June 2018 among other actions announced the 20% retaliatory tariffs and imposed them in 2019. India raised the applied tariff rates on almonds exported to India from 35 rupees to 41 rupees per kg on inshell and from 100 rupees to 120 rupees per kg on kernels, according to the release.
