Sitharaman: India has opened 92.5% of tariff lines to the EU under the free trade deal

Sitharaman: India has opened 92.5% of tariff lines to the EU under the free trade deal

At the opening of the Munich Leaders Meeting in New Delhi on 5 October 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India has opened up 92.5 per cent of all its tariff lines and 97 per cent of trade value to the European Union under their free trade deal, while the EU has opened up 99 per cent of trade value and about 97 per cent of tariff lines to India. She said India and the United States have reached a plateau in their trade talks beyond which further concessions would be very difficult for both sides, with the trade balance currently in India's favour. Sitharaman added that the trade imbalance between India and China has grown exponentially since 2014, raising the same question that imbalance based arguments pose when applied to India's own trade with the US.