On Wednesday, September 19, a think tank named GTRI said that India’s exports to US are witnessing a decline as high Trump tariffs have started ruining the price competitiveness of domestic goods in Washington. Shipments to the US from August have plummeted to USD 6.7billion, a decrease of 16.3 % from July. Notably, this is the largest monthly drop of 2025 since US tariffs doubled to 50% at the end of the month.
Apparently, Exports declined by around 3.6 per cent to USD 8 billion in the month of July. May can be called the last month of growth, as shipments to the US increased 4.8 per cent. Exports to the US were around USD 8.4 billion.
What did the GTRI founder say about India’s exports to US and Trump Tariffs?
Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) Founder Ajay Srivastava said that as US Tariffs increased, India’s exports to the US witnessed a decline. Until April 4, Indian goods entered the US at normal rates. The imposition of a universal 10 per cent Trump tariff on April 5, which initially was not able to disturb the trade as importers rushed to front-load purchases, while explaining May’s export rise. Furthermore, he said: “By June, however, the sustained 10 per cent duty and growing talk of country-specific measures began eroding India’s price competitiveness, adding orders shifted to alternative suppliers, resulting in India’s exports down by around 6 per cent. According to him, the decline deepened in July under the US tariff regime.
Not only this, but he also said that around one-third of India’s exports, including pharmaceuticals and smartphones to the US, are trump tariff-exempt, which means the effective hit on tariff-exposed goods is far deeper than headline figures suggest. Labour-intensive sectors like apparel, gems and jewellery, leather, shrimp, and carpets are facing critical stress since the US accounts for 30-60 per cent or more of their global exports.