India’s trade deficit has narrowed to a five-month low as gold imports fell and exports to the US picked up despite punitive tariffs.
Exports rose to $38.13 billion in November as against $34.48 billion in October, even as imports decreased to $62.66 billion from $76.06 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Monday. That equated to a trade deficit of $24.53 billion. The decline was attributed to lower gold, oil and coal imports and higher US exports—up 10% month-on-month to $6.92 billion.
India’s trade deficit had widened to a record high of $41.7 billion in October, as US exports plunged following President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs.
Elsewhere, India’s services exports stood at $35.86 billion and imports at $17.96 billion, suggesting a trade surplus at $17.9 billion.
India trade deficit: Exports up, Imports down
The lower-than-expected trade deficit was driven by exports, which at $38.13 billion in November, were up 19.4% from a year earlier and at the highest level since June 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
This growth was largely supported by India’s push into newer markets, including China, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters in New Delhi. “India has held fort on the US exports despite tariffs,” Agrawal said.
India-US Trade Deal
India’s US exports rose over 21% year-on-year to $6.92 billion in November, compared to $5.71 billion a year earlier. In October, US exports fell nearly 9% year-on-year to $6.31 billion from $6.91 billion a year ago, though they were higher than $5.47 billion in September.
The data comes at a time when India-US trade talks are inching forward at a snail’s pace. Last week, Trump spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the fourth time since the hefty tariffs on Indian goods took effect in August.
India remains one of the only major economies yet to strike a trade deal with the US. The delay continues to pressure the rupee, which fell to a fresh low against the US dollar on Monday.
Washington wants New Delhi to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US goods and open its market to American farm products, including soybean and grain sorghum.
