Tariffs remain an important component of India’s international trade policy and industrial strategy. Although India has progressively liberalized many trade barriers since the reforms of the early 1990s, its tariff structure remains relatively protective compared with many major trading economies and varies substantially across product categories. This narrative review examines India’s tariff regime, its historical evolution, economic rationale, sectoral structure, relationship with trade agreements, and implications for competitiveness, consumers, government revenue and global value-chain participation. Current WTO data indicate that India’s simple-average most-favoured-nation (MFN) applied tariff was 15.8% in 2025, while the trade-weighted MFN average was 7.9% in 2024; the WTO reports an effective applied tariff of 5.8% from 1 January 2026 (WTO, 2026). Earlier WITS data based on UNCTAD TRAINS show a 2023 effectively applied simple average of 9.81%, a weighted average of 5.22%, and a maximum tariff rate of 150% (World Bank, 2024). These differences demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between simple averages, trade-weighted averages, MFN rates, preferential rates and effective applied rates. The article argues that tariff policy in India increasingly operates alongside broader industrial policies, production incentives, trade agreements, standards and customs reforms. The principal policy challenge is to balance legitimate industrial-development objectives with the costs of tariff escalation, imported-input prices, trade diversion and uncertainty. The review concludes with recommendations for greater tariff transparency, predictable reform, lower barriers on productive inputs, stronger rules-based trade administration, improved use of trade agreements and systematic evaluation of tariff effects.
Keywords:tariffs; customs duties; trade policy; import protection; MFN tariffs; trade liberalization; industrial policy; free trade agreements; global value chains