US Report Flags High Import Duties, Non-Tariff Barriers In India

Washington : The US has reiterated that India maintains "high" import duties on a range of goods, including agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages, along with various non-tariff barriers. India has always maintained that its duties are in compliance with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to the US Trade Representative's 2026 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on foreign trade barriers, released on March 31, given the large disparity between WTO bound and applied rates, India has considerable flexibility to change tariff rates for both agricultural and non-agricultural products at any time, creating tremendous uncertainty for US workers, farmers, ranchers, and exporters.

 

It is an annual report that lists key policies and practices of countries that affect US exports, investments, and digital trade. In 2025 also, the report has alleged that import tariffs in India are high.

The report has highlighted several trade and regulatory challenges between the US and India, including issues related to tariffs, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property, services, digital trade, and transparency. According to trade experts, most of the issues are repeats of earlier reports, and a few have been resolved already.

 

"India maintains high applied tariffs on a wide range of goods, including vegetable oils (as high as 45 per cent); apples, corn, and motorcycles (50 per cent); automobiles and flowers (60 per cent); natural rubber (70 per cent); coffee, raisins, and walnuts (100 per cent); and alcoholic beverages (150 per cent)," the report has said.

In addition, it said, India maintains "very high" basic customs duties on drug formulations, including life-saving drugs and finished medicines listed on the World Health Organisation's list of essential medicines.

"High tariff rates also present a significant barrier to trade in other agricultural goods and processed foods (example poultry, potatoes, citrus, almonds, pecans, apples, grapes, canned peaches, chocolate, cookies, frozen french fries, and other prepared foods used in fast-food restaurants)," it added.

 

India's World Trade Organisation (WTO) bound tariff rates on agricultural products are among the "highest" in the world, averaging 113.1 per cent and ranging as high as 300 per cent. India routinely changes the surcharge on a range of agricultural products, it said.

 

The report, however, stated that in its 2026 budget, India has reduced applied tariffs on a range of products across multiple sectors, including lifesaving medicines, raw materials and components for electric vehicle and mobile phone battery manufacturing, critical minerals such as lithium-ion battery scrap, cobalt powder, lead and zinc, certain electronic components, mobile phone parts and other industrial inputs.

On non-tariff barriers, it said India has imposed import bans, restrictions, licensing requirements on certain goods, mandatory Quality Control Orders (QCOs), customs barriers, price control on medical devices, and mandatory domestic testing and certification requirements for equipment.