Is India the ‘Tariff King’?

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United States President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that India is a tariff king and imposes tremendously high tariffs on American products

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US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in December said India is the “highest tariff” major economy in the world and they need to work together for making it “fair and equal”

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India-US bilateral trade witnessed a 10-fold increase since 2001. The US was the largest trading partner of India in 2023-24

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India currently imposes around 100% duty on 20 US items. Country’s exports stood at $77.51 billion, while imports were at $42.2 billion in FY24

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Trump has criticised India’s “big tariffs” on American paper products and the iconic Harley-Davidson bikes. In 2020, Harley-Davidson shut India operations citing dwindling sales and high duty and tax structure.

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Country’s exports to America were up 6.31% to $47.24 billion, while imports grew 2.46% to $26 billion during April-October this fiscal

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India’s exports to the US include petroleum products, drug formulations, pearls, precious/semi-precious stones, telecom instruments, electrical machinery, apparel

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Imports include mineral fuels and oils, nuclear reactors, pearls and semi-precious stones, imitation jewellery electrical machinery, aircraft and parts, medical equipment, and military equipment

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Between FY20 and FY24, India’s merchandise exports to America increased 46% from $53.1 billion to $77.5 billion

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Trade in services between them expanded 30.3% from $54.1 billion in 2018 to an estimated $70.5 billion in 2024

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Washington is the third largest investor. India received $66.7 billion of Foreign Direct Investment inflow between April 2000 and June 2024

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