India Will Continue To Cut Import Duties, Says Nirmala Sitharaman

India will continue to reduce and rationalise import duties while the Reserve Bank of India manages any inflationary impact with its monetary policy tools, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

"India has already taken several measures on tariffs by rationalisation. Anti-dumping duties are periodically reviewed," Sitharaman said at a press conference, following a post-Budget interaction with key stakeholders in Mumbai.

"This budget is a major step forward to reform India's customs duty regime. We are becoming an investor-friendly country," she said.

Responding to the potential impact of imported inflation due to global tariff wars, the minister said the RBI has managed inflation as per targets and February's repo rate cut shows that price rise is under control. "Inflation management and monetary policy are working in sync."

Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey referred to the joint statement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump's meeting last week, where the two countries agreed to review tariff policies under a trade agreement by year-end.

He said most US imports already invite the lowest tariff rates and the few that have higher levies will be negotiated during trade talks.

"We don't know to what extent will the US reciprocal tariffs come in. Such tariffs may be levied on only a few items," he said.

Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2025, announced that the government would remove seven tariff customs rates and keep only eight tariff rates after the revision.

Last week, US President Donald Trump acknowledged India's reductions on tariffs that limit American access to the Indian markets as a symbol of good faith. He flagged the $100-billion US trade deficit and called for further steps to reduce it.

The two countries are targeting to achieve a bilateral trade of $500 billion by 2030.

Sitharaman said the emphasis on research and development has continued from past two budgets and expects Rs 1 lakh crore to be raised from markets for R&D.

She also said the government has reduced compliance burden on companies that will soon show results.

"Whether it's manufacturing via PLI or stress on businesses to do compliance, steps are in the right direction. We expect advantages of these reforms to aid businesses. State governments will also come forward to remove compliance-related stress," she said.