India is examining the latest average import tariffs with the US before it commences negotiations with Washington on a proposed treaty, officials said. A bilateral trade agreement is in the works.
India's departments of commerce and revenue are working to resolve discrepancies in bilateral trade data collected by the two sides, amid US President Donald Trump's accusation that India is a tariff abuser. The analysis assumes significance as data of the two countries differ.
In a February 13 speech, Trump claimed his country's trade deficit with India amounts to $100 billion. However, based on US data, the actual deficit was $45.6 billion, including goods and services, in 2023. The deficit in just goods trade was $45.7 billion in 2024.
According to an ET analysis of government data from both sides since 2018, the US has consistently reported higher imports from India than exports reported by New Delhi to that country. For example, the US reported $87.4 billion in goods imports from India in 2024, whereas India recorded $80.7 billion in exports to the US -a gap of $6.7 billion, albeit down from $8 billion in 2023.
The White House fact sheet also stated that India imposes a 100% tariff on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. However, the tariff imposed on motorcycles was 50% before the February 1 budget, which lowered it further to 30%.
Officials said India's tariff numbers in international databases were on the basis of reported data, while the US usually derives its numbers from the World Trade Organization.
"Both these need to be examined. Once that's done, we expect there would be a differential, although not too much, once the tariffs are updated," said an official.
The US accounts for around 11% of India's total trade.
ET's analysis also showed that the US reported exporting goods worth $41.8 billion to India in 2024, while the latter recorded $42.8 billion in imports from that country.
Between 2018 and 2024, exports to the US grew 56.8%, according to Indian data. On the other hand, the US recorded it as a 61.1% increase in imports from India.
"The US captures reexport and reimport separately while India doesn't and this may be one reason for the data discrepancy," said a trade expert.
Such discrepancies have also been observed between the US and China.
The World Bank, in a blog early in 2024, highlighted several possible reasons for such discrepancies that included differences in valuation methods, transshipment and reexports, and trade fraud.
In 2023, India attributed its trade data discrepancy with China to under-reporting, and unfair cross-border trade practices.
Source Name : Economic Times