Even though Donald Trump’s high tariffs are still in effect, India’s goods exports to the US increased in October for the first time in five months, up 14.5% from September. Following the implementation of 50% US tariffs on India on August 27, which included a 25% penalty on purchases of Russian oil, exports to India’s biggest overseas market fell precipitously last month.
The improving data coincided with Trump’s exemption of certain agricultural products from reciprocal tariffs, which could help India and Indian state-run oil companies agree to import more liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US each year.
Negotiations for a trade agreement between the two nations are now underway, and an Indian official stated that essential details of the agreement were almost finalized. The increase in shipments to the US coincided with an 11.8% year-over-year fall in India’s total goods exports in October, with bilateral trade declining in 15 of its top 20 countries.
In response to the most recent trade figures, Ajay Srivastava of the Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) stated, “Tariff-exempt sectors such as smartphones and pharmaceuticals may have performed better – though this remains a tentative assumption.”
Considering the October rebound, India’s shipments to the US decreased nearly 28.4% between May and October, destroying more than $2.5bn in monthly export value,” said Srivastava.
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