List of world countries retaliating US tariffs grows

India and Turkey have begun implementing retaliatory tariffs against the United States, joining the European Union (EU), China, and other countries in adopting matching measures against US President Donald Trump’s administration.

New Delhi announced in a notice issued late on Thursday that the retaliatory tariffs would be imposed on 30 American products worth $240 million and that they would come into force on August 4.

India’s adoption of the new duties on a slew of farm products, steel, and iron imported from the US came some three months after Trump raised concerns when he decided to impose 25-percent tariffs on steel imports and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports, primarily to target China, but also US allies such as European countries.

Trump argued at the time that enormous flows of imports to the US were putting in jeopardy the American national security, making an odd departure from a decades-long US-led move toward open and free trade.

Last month, India filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the US over the steel and aluminum duties after New Delhi failed to win an exemption.

Turkey

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci announced that Ankara would begin implementing retaliatory duties worth $266.5 million against the US on Thursday over “ill-advised” and “unsupportable” additional steel tariffs introduced by the White House.

The counter-tariffs will be imposed on imports of, among other things, US coal, paper, walnuts/almonds, tobacco, unprocessed rice, automobiles, cosmetics, machinery equipment, and petrochemical products.

“The total tariff burden today being imposed by Turkey on the US is commensurate with the additional costs Turkey faces due to the tariffs imposed on it by the US,” he said in a statement, adding, “They are proportional, measured and designed to protect Turkey’s interests, while encouraging dialog.”

Zeybekci, however, added that Ankara would remain committed to active, robust and reciprocal trade relations with Washington.

The retaliatory move by New Delhi and Ankara came a day after the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced that the bloc had decided to charge higher import duties on a range of US products.

PressTV-EU to start imposing tariffs on US imports from Friday

The European Commission said the tariffs had been adopted earlier this month on 2.8 billion euros' ($3.2 billion) worth of American goods.

The Commission added that the counter-tariffs adopted earlier this month on 2.8 billion euros’ (3.2 billion dollars’) worth of American goods would become operational on Friday. The EU’s tariffs of 25 percent target metals, farm produce such as sweetcorn and peanuts, bourbon, jeans, and motor-bikes.

China, Canada, and Mexico have already adopted similar retaliatory measures against Trump’s metal tariffs.

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