India gets rid of extra taxes on 6 US goods.

India has taken back the extra taxes it put on about six US goods, like beans, lentils, and apples, in response to the US's choice to raise tariffs on some steel and aluminum products in 2019.

In 2019, India put these taxes on 28 US goods as a way to get back at the US for what it did. In a notice from September 5, the Finance Ministry said that taxes had been removed from beans, lentils (masur), apples, walnuts in the shell, fresh or dried almonds, and almonds that had been skinned.

The move comes before US Vice President Joe Biden's trip to India for the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10. On Friday, Biden will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about mutual issues. During the Prime Minister's state visit to the US in June, both countries agreed to end six WTO (World Trade Organization) disagreements and remove counter taxes on some US goods. As part of the deal, India will stop charging extra duty on beans (10%), lentils (20%), fresh or dried almonds (Rs7 per kg), shelled almonds (Rs20 per kg), walnuts (20%), and fresh apples (20%).

In a written answer to the Rajya Sabha in July, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said that the government had decided to remove retaliatory customs duties on the import of fresh or dried almonds in the shell, walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, apples, medical diagnostic reagents, and boric acid. She had said that the removal of reciprocal taxes or cuts in import duties with the US did not hurt India.