New Delhi, June 12 -- The US has rejected India's second attempt within days to challenge American tariffs at the World Trade Organization (WTO)-this time over automobiles and auto parts. Washington has turned down India's 'notice for consultations' on the US's 25% tariff on auto components, asserting that the auto duties were imposed on national security grounds and so are not subject to multilateral trade rules, as per a WTO paper. This comes just days after the US brushed aside India's long-pending case on steel and aluminium duties. To be sure, as with that dispute, New Delhi reserves its right to impose retaliatory duties on US automobile tariffs, an official at India's commerce ministry said, requesting anonymity. Although the US's 25% tariff on auto components is expected to have minimal impact on India's automobile sector, the latest development underscores Washington's take-it-or-leave-it approach in its ongoing talks with New Delhi for a bilateral trade agreement. India is looking to finalize the first tranche of the trade deal before US President Donald Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariff ends on 8 July, after which additional tariffs on Indian exports to the US could kick in in the absence of a trade agreement. Simultaneously, India has been ramping up efforts at the WTO to assert its rights. Indian automobile exporters, particularly in the acomponents and electric vehicle segments, fear restricted access to the US market just as they expand capacity to serve global supply chains. "The recent imposition of a 25% tariff by the US on Indian auto exports introduces a potential challenge for India's automotive sector, particularly for component manufacturers and exporters," said Saket Mehra, automotive industry leader, Grant Thornton Bharat. "This development may affect trade flows and pricing structures, especially for firms with significant exposure to the US market." The commerce ministry didn't immediately reply to Mint's queries. In response to India's request for WTO consultations on 3 June, the US, in a submission to the WTO's Committee on Safeguards on 10 June, argued its 25% tariffs on passenger vehicles, light trucks, and auto components fall under the essential security exception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and are not safeguard measures. Therefore, consultations under WTO's Safeguards Agreement did not apply. "Nonetheless, we are open to discuss this or any other issue with India. Any discussions regarding the tariffs would not be under the Agreement on Safeguards and would be without prejudice to our view that the tariffs are not safeguard measures," the US said. India has argued that these duties operate as de facto safeguard measures and require WTO oversight. The Safeguards Agreement allows WTO member-countries to impose temporary restrictions, through tariff hikes for instance, if imports of a product are increasing so as "to cause, or threaten to cause, serious injury" to a domestic industry. The tariff on auto components took effect on 3 May. New Delhi's position is that such trade-restrictive measures should not bypass the multilateral framework merely by invoking national security....