FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday rejected the allegation that India is a “tariff king” saying that her latest Budget brought down the number of tariff rates to eight and the effective rate is “far lower”. “For those who still believe in the commentary which was made in the US that India may be the tariff king...I want two things to be remembered. Given our system of things, we seek parliamentary approval for deciding on the tariff rate...The permission to go up to a certain level but effectively you are at a far lower level,” she said.

 

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused India of being a very high tariff nation. Trump had called India a “tariff king” and a “big abuser”. She said that the number of tariff rates was brought down to eight in the 2025-26 Budget with a view to boosting domestic manufacturing and promoting exports. The Finance Minister made the remarks while inaugurating Trade Conclave by India Exim Bank here. She further said, “our procedures have given us the not-so-desirable picture of being very very restrictive and regressive about tariff. Many of them are already far lower than the rate at which the gazette notification came after the approval of Parliament.”