Centre has no plans to increase duties on gold and silver imports, according to a government source. This comes amid growing concerns related to import duties in the country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to avoid non-essential gold purchases over the next one year to protect forex reserves.On the trade front, US officials are expected to visit India for trade talks, though dates have not been decided yet. The source told Reuters that talks with the United States are likely to include all pending issues, including the Section 301 probe on India. However, trade deal with the US should not be expected till the USTR Section 301 probe is underway.Meanwhile, India has strongly rejected allegations by the US Trade Representative in its investigations on excess structural capacity and production involving several countries, including India, stating that the initiation notice has failed to provide “cogent rationale” to substantiate the claims.India has requested that the USTR issue a negative determination with respect to India and terminate the investigation against it, according to a submission from New Delhi to the USTR.On March 11, the United States announced the initiation of investigations against its trading partners, including India, China, Japan and the EU, to look into and address “unfair foreign practices” that adversely impact American manufacturing.This comes weeks after the Indian delegation’s visit to the United States for trade deal talks concluded, with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer describing New Delhi as a ‘tough nut to crack’. The delegation had travelled to the US to continue discussions on the first tranche of the India-US trade deal, first announced by Donald Trump and PM Modi in February this year.Under the proposed interim trade deal, the US has lowered tariffs on India from 50% to 18%. In August last year, Trump had imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff on India, along with an additional 25% penal tariff linked to India’s crude oil purchases from Russia.
