Former Indian Ambassador to France and leading trade expert Mohan Kumar has pushed back against the Trump administration’s recurring claim that India is the “tariff king,” arguing that the perception is misleading and not supported by data.

In a Newsweek article titled “Is India a ‘Tariff King’? Not Really”, Kumar, who also heads the Jadeja Motwani Institute for American Studies at OP Jindal Global University, called the notion of India’s exceptionally high tariffs “widespread but fallacious.”

He argued that the US-led tariff war itself violates World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, even though the body has been “moribund for a while.”

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that India imposes “the highest tariffs in the world,” most recently accusing New Delhi of unfairly blocking American exports.

Kumar countered this by highlighting the difference between simple average tariffs and trade-weighted tariffs. While India’s simple average tariffs stand around 16 per cent, the trade-weighted average—reflecting actual goods entering the market—is just 4.6 per cent, comparable to global standards.

He acknowledged that India does maintain high agricultural tariffs to protect its farmers, but stressed that opening the farm sector under US pressure would be “akin to committing suicide,” given that Western farmers already enjoy heavy subsidies.

Kumar also pointed out that US exporters face equal or lower tariffs in India compared to other Asian economies. For instance, electronics and technology imports often attract zero tariffs in India, while comparable rates in Vietnam average 8.5 per cent and in China range between 5.4 and 20 per cent.

By breaking down these misconceptions, Kumar argued that India’s trade regime is often misrepresented in Washington’s rhetoric, and that “tariff king” is more a political slogan than economic reality.