India has sought talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding Washington's tariff-rate quota on imports of quartz surface products from the US. This new quota has come into effect from August 15 and will continue for the next four years. New Delhi formally told the WTO on August 14 that India had a “significant interest” in the matter. Along with this, India has proposed that this dialogue should be organized in a virtual manner as per the mutual convenience of both the countries.
Talking about the figures, India had exported such products worth about $380 million to America in the financial year 2026. Washington had identified India, Vietnam, Spain and Thailand as major exporters of these specific goods. India has raised the demand for this negotiation under the Safeguards Agreement of WTO.
After all, what is the whole matter?
In fact, on July 31, US President Donald Trump had signed an order to impose a huge tariff-rate quota of up to 50 percent on the import of quartz surface products from various countries. This tough decision was taken after the investigation report of the US International Trade Commission, which said that the import of quartz surface products has increased to such a huge extent that it is causing serious loss to their domestic industry. This is the fourth time for India that it has sought talks with Washington on the WTO platform after steel and aluminium, automobile and auto components, and copper imports.
America's tariff trap on India
WTO rules do not explicitly permit the imposition of safeguard measures on developing countries if the share of any one country in total imports is less than 3 percent. Additionally, total imports of products from developing countries with low import-share should not exceed 9 percent.
This development has come to light at a time when America has imposed an additional tariff of 10 percent on India under Section 301 investigation related to forced labour. Not only this, Washington is also preparing to enact a stringent law under which heavy tariffs of up to 100 percent can be imposed on five countries that are among the top importers of Russian oil and gas—including India.
Trade deal and monitoring plan with AI
Currently both the countries are also negotiating a bilateral trade deal. Last week, the US accused India and 40 other countries of being part of a “shadow trans-shipment network” that allegedly helps Chinese goods evade US tariffs. Along with this, the US has also announced a plan to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to identify such suspicious shipments and take strict action against them.