The Crossbill News Desk
India’s export performance weakened sharply in October as the United States’ 50% tariff measure began to show its impact on several labour-intensive sectors, making Indian goods significantly less competitive in the American market.
Key industries such as garments, leather, engineering goods, gems and jewellery, and chemicals were among the worst affected, The Hindu Businessline reported.
A Delhi-based exporter said, “Although in the April-October period this year, India’s exports to the US posted a growth of 10.15 per cent to $52.11 billion, the concern is that as soon as the 50 per cent tariffs were imposed in August-end, exports to the country got hit.”
Textiles, including readymade garments, saw one of the steepest declines, with shipments falling 12.9% to $2.66 billion in October as buyers held back orders.
“There has been a double digit fall across all categories. The US tariffs are hurting,” said Sanjay Jain, former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
Engineering exports, which had reported four straight months of growth, also dropped sharply by 16.71% to $9.37 billion.
“The decline in October was expected, considering that the 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US came into force in the last week of August,” said the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India.
The leather and gems & jewellery sectors, too, recorded significant declines of 15.66% to $314 million and 29.5% to $2.28 billion, respectively.
A Chennai-based leather exporter said, “Our US buyers are awaiting the India-US trade deal. There is hope of an early deal or competing countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, would get our orders.”
Overall, India’s merchandise exports dipped 11.8% to $34.38 billion in October. The trade deficit widened to an unprecedented $41.68 billion due to a surge in gold imports.
Imports jumped 16.63% to a record $76.06 billion, driven by higher inbound shipments of gold, silver, cotton raw/waste, fertiliser and sulphur, according to government data.
In September, the trade gap had already risen to $31.15 billion — the highest in more than a year. Crude oil imports fell to $14.8 billion in October from $18.9 billion in the same month last year.
Key industries such as garments, leather, engineering goods, gems and jewellery, and chemicals were among the worst affected, The Hindu Businessline reported.
A Delhi-based exporter said, “Although in the April-October period this year, India’s exports to the US posted a growth of 10.15 per cent to $52.11 billion, the concern is that as soon as the 50 per cent tariffs were imposed in August-end, exports to the country got hit.”
Textiles, including readymade garments, saw one of the steepest declines, with shipments falling 12.9% to $2.66 billion in October as buyers held back orders.
“There has been a double digit fall across all categories. The US tariffs are hurting,” said Sanjay Jain, former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
Engineering exports, which had reported four straight months of growth, also dropped sharply by 16.71% to $9.37 billion.
“The decline in October was expected, considering that the 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US came into force in the last week of August,” said the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India.
The leather and gems & jewellery sectors, too, recorded significant declines of 15.66% to $314 million and 29.5% to $2.28 billion, respectively.
A Chennai-based leather exporter said, “Our US buyers are awaiting the India-US trade deal. There is hope of an early deal or competing countries, such as Vietnam and Indonesia, would get our orders.”
Overall, India’s merchandise exports dipped 11.8% to $34.38 billion in October. The trade deficit widened to an unprecedented $41.68 billion due to a surge in gold imports.
Imports jumped 16.63% to a record $76.06 billion, driven by higher inbound shipments of gold, silver, cotton raw/waste, fertiliser and sulphur, according to government data.
In September, the trade gap had already risen to $31.15 billion — the highest in more than a year. Crude oil imports fell to $14.8 billion in October from $18.9 billion in the same month last year.
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