Less than 20% of US exports to India are subject to tariffs

Since less than 4% of the items from the North American nation are subject to tariffs of more than 30%, the United States’ efforts to persuade India to lower import charges may not have much of an impact on the nation. On December 20, U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti urged for a reduction in tariffs. During his remarks at the US India Business Council event, Garcetti emphasized the necessity of lowering tariffs in order to make trade “fair and equal.”

Garcetti’s remarks are in line with those of President-elect Donald Trump, who said last week that the US will reciprocate India’s high tariffs. The president-elect, who will assume office in January, has already called for retaliatory actions and warned to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China should the BRICS countries decide to finalize a currency.

63.5 percent of categories have less than 10 percent tariff, while another 17.9 percent, or 651 goods, have 10–20 percent tariff, according to an analysis of 3,638 tariff lines for which data is available for 2023–2024. Cars and motorbikes imported from the United States are the main items among the 20 items that are subject to a tax of more than 100 percent.

A source of contention during Trump’s final term in office was Harley-Davidson. India has been on Tesla’s radar. Tesla’s founder, Elon Musk, is a member of the Trump administration. According to World Bank data, US EVs currently face a 125 percent tariff. For wines, whiskies, rum, and other alcoholic beverages, the maximum tariff of 150 percent is applied. 42 more items are subject to 60–100% duty and 1.9% between 30-60 tariff.

These segments only make about 0.4% of the total value of trade with India in 2023–2024. Of the more than $40 billion in imports to India, 81.8 percent fell into categories with tariffs of 10 percent or less, while 15 percent fell into categories with tariffs of 10 to 20 percent.