India’s exports to the United States suffered a sharp setback between May and October 2025 as a series of steep tariff hikes by Washington triggered a broad-based decline across major product categories, according to a report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) released on Saturday.
The think tank said shipments to India’s largest foreign market fell 28.5 per cent during the six-month period, sliding from $8.83 billion in May to $6.31 billion in October.
The contraction followed an aggressive escalation in US import duties that began at 10 per cent on April 2, rose to 25 per cent on August 7 and peaked at 50 per cent by late August, making Indian goods among the most heavily taxed of any American trading partner.
China faced tariffs of about 30 per cent in comparison, while Japan dealt with 15 per cent.
Tariff-exempt items including smartphones, pharmaceuticals and petroleum products accounted for 40.3 per cent of India’s exports to the US in October but still recorded a 25.8 per cent decline, falling from $3.42 billion in May to $2.54 billion in October.
This represented a loss of $881 million.
Products facing uniform global tariffs formed 7.6 per cent of October shipments. These mainly comprised iron, steel, aluminum, copper and auto parts.
Exports in this category dropped 23.8 per cent between May and October, decreasing from $629 million to $480 million or about $149 million, GTRI said.
The steepest fall occurred in labour intensive segments where India alone was subjected to the 50 per cent duty rate.
These products accounted for 52.1 per cent of October exports and contracted 31.2 per cent, tumbling from $4.78 billion in May to $3.29 billion in October. Nearly $1.5 billion in shipments was wiped out in just five months.
“Smartphones, India’s single biggest product line to the US, suffered a 36 per cent decline, sliding from $2.29 billion in May to $1.50 billion in October, a loss of almost $790 million,” GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said.
Monthly exports fell consistently from $2 billion in June to $1.52 billion in July, plunged to $964.8 million in August, eased to $884.6 million in September and recovered to $1.5 billion in October.
Pharmaceutical exports dipped marginally by 1.6 per cent, from $745.6 million to $733.6 million. Petroleum product shipments declined 15.5 per cent, sliding from $291 million in May to $246 million in October.
GTRI said labour intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, garments, chemicals and seafood also recorded declines. Chemical exports fell 38 per cent, dropping from $537 million to $333 million.