US lawmakers urge Trump administration to reinstate trade concessions to India

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers have urged the administration of President Donald Trump to reinstate trade concessions to India, saying the withdrawal of the privilege had led to retaliatory tariffs from New Delhi which were hurting American exporters.

In a letter addressed to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, 44 members of Congress said many US jobs depend on the trade between India and the United States.

In June, the Trump administration ended US preferential trade treatment for India, removing it from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program that allowed duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its annual exports to the US.

The elimination of GSP brought higher retaliatory tariffs from New Delhi on 28 American products including almonds, apples and walnuts.

India is one of the largest importers of US agricultural products, according to US Department of Agriculture. The South Asian country purchased $543 million worth of almonds and $156 million worth of apples from the US in 2018.

“Just as US industries are harmed by lack of fair and reciprocal access to India’s market, American companies and workers also are harmed by new tariffs due to the GSP termination,” the US lawmakers said in the letter seen by Reuters.

The letter comes days ahead of a meeting between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

SS