Customs duty from India to United States: Import Duty Guide

Key Takeaways

• India and the US have no free trade agreement - a February 2026 interim understanding reduced tariffs, but it isn’t a formal trade agreement.
• Tariffs swung from 25% to 50% within a single month in mid-2025, explicitly linked by the US to India’s continued Russian oil purchases and BRICS participation.
• A February 2026 deal cut the rate to 18%, and subsequent changes in the underlying US tariff mechanism have brought it down further to roughly 10% as of August 2026 - a dramatic de-escalation within about twelve months.
• The Russian-oil linkage that triggered the original spike remains unresolved and is a live risk for renewed escalation.
• India was the US’s 9th largest source of goods imports in 2025, at $103.78 billion.

India-US Trade at a Glance

India was the US’s ninth-largest source of goods imports in 2025, at $103.78 billion, with the US running a $58.42 billion goods trade deficit (US Census Bureau).

Is There a Trade Deal Between India and the US?

Not a free trade agreement - a negotiated tariff reduction. This India-US trade route has seen the widest tariff swing of any US trading partner Dutix tracks.

Tariffs rose from 25% (effective 1 August 2025) to 50% (27 August 2025) within a single month, explicitly linked by the US to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil and its BRICS participation.

A 6-7 February 2026 interim deal cut the rate to 18% - notably, the joint statement announcing it didn’t clearly document any Indian commitment to curb Russian oil purchases, leaving the underlying rationale for the reduction somewhat ambiguous (Morgan Lewis; White House fact sheet).

What Tariffs Apply Right Now (And Why That Keeps Changing)

The February 2026 deal’s 18% figure was itself built on IEEPA authority, which the Supreme Court struck down that same month - so it, too, has since been superseded.

India then moved through the short-lived Section 122 mechanism (10%) and, as of the July 2026 Section 301 forced-labor tariff program, sits in the lower 10% tier - reportedly after initially being slated for the higher 12.5% bracket applied to countries like China and Vietnam, but securing the lower rate through separate negotiation on labor practices (BusinessToday).

Taken together, the rate on this lane has moved from a 50% peak in August 2025 to roughly 10% a year later - a genuinely dramatic de-escalation.

But the geopolitical trigger behind the original spike, India’s Russian oil purchases, remains unresolved, and there’s no guarantee it won’t drive renewed escalation.

How Much Will You Pay Importing from India to the US?

As of August 2026, expect a rate in the neighborhood of 10% for general merchandise - a substantial improvement from the 50% peak roughly a year earlier, though this is a fast-moving situation tied to an active geopolitical dispute.

US valuation uses FOB, there’s no import VAT (only state sales tax at checkout), no de minimis exemption at any value, and a Merchandise Processing Fee of roughly $8.06 on a typical informal entry.

Dutix’s live calculator’s flat general-merchandise duty estimate is reasonably close to this lane’s current rate following the de-escalation, but given how quickly this specific lane has swung in the past, don’t assume it will stay this close indefinitely.

FAQs About Customs Duty Between India and USA

Why did India’s tariff rate change so dramatically?

The US raised tariffs from 25% to 50% within a month in mid-2025, explicitly citing India’s continued Russian oil purchases and BRICS participation - a geopolitically-driven escalation rather than a standard trade dispute. Successive deals have brought the rate back down to roughly 10% by August 2026.

Is the Russian oil issue resolved?

Not clearly. The February 2026 deal that began the de-escalation didn’t clearly document an Indian commitment to curb Russian oil purchases, so the underlying trigger for the original spike remains a live, unresolved risk.

Does India have a free trade agreement with the US?

No - the current roughly 10% rate comes from a sequence of negotiated tariff reductions and changes in the underlying US tariff mechanism, not a formal free trade agreement.

How big is US-India trade?

India was the US’s 9th largest source of goods imports in 2025, at $103.78 billion, with the US running a $58.42 billion trade deficit.