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Tag: trade deficit

  • India looking beyond US for pharma exports amid tariff tensions

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    By Sriparna Roy and Rishika Sadam

    NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India is seeking to boost drug exports to semi-regulated markets in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia to reduce its dependence on the U.S., where tariff concerns pose risks, officials from a government-backed trade body told Reuters on Thursday.

    The Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) also plans to push for sales of finished goods to China to bridge the trade deficit, the officials said. The Indian industry imports more than 60% of its raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients from China.

    While Indian pharmaceutical exports are currently exempt from President Donald Trump‘s tariffs of up to 50%, growing uncertainty and tensions between the countries have kept the industry cautious.

    “It is a matter of concern for us,” Pharmexcil Chairman Namit Joshi said, referring to the U.S. tariffs.

    The U.S. is India’s largest market and accounts for slightly more than a third of India’s pharmaceutical exports, which comprise mainly cheaper generic versions of popular drugs. Exports to the country rose 20% to about $10.5 billion in fiscal 2025.

    “The point is how medium and small enterprises and big companies can come together and work on those (semi-regulated)markets,” Bhavin Mehta, Pharmexcil’s vice chairman, said on the sidelines of a conference.

    The trade body plans to submit its related plan to the government by next week, Mehta said.

    Earlier this week, Reuters had reported about India’s plans to increase pharmaceutical exports to Russia, the Netherlands and Brazil, citing two industry sources.

    India recorded a trade deficit of $99.2 billion with China in the fiscal year that ended in March 2025, driven by a surge in imports of electronic goods and consumer durables.

    “If 20% trade deficit gets covered by exporting back to China, I think we (could) generate $6 billion from China,” Pharmexcil’s Joshi said on Thursday.

    (Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Rishika Sadam in New Delhi; Writing by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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  • India’s exports decline by 17% to $29.78 bn in October; trade deficit widens to $ 26.91 bn

    India’s exports decline by 17% to $29.78 bn in October; trade deficit widens to $ 26.91 bn

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    India’s exports entered negative territory after a gap of about two years, declining sharply by 16.65 per cent to USD 29.78 billion in October, mainly due to global demand slowdown, even as trade deficit widened to USD 26.91 billion, according to data released by the commerce ministry on Tuesday. 

    Key export sectors, including gems and jewellery, engineering, petroleum products, ready-made garments of all textiles, chemicals, pharma, marine products, and leather, recorded negative growth during October. 

    Imports during the month under review rose by about 6 per cent to USD 56.69 billion on account of increase in the inbound shipments of crude oil and certain raw materials such as cotton, fertiliser and machinery. During April-October 2022, exports recorded a growth of 12.55 per cent to USD 263.35 billion.

    Imports rose 33.12 per cent to USD 436.81 billion. The merchandise trade deficit for April-October 2022 was estimated at USD 173.46 billion as against USD 94.16 billion in April-October 2021, as per the data. Trade deficit in October 2021 was USD 17.91 billion. Last time it was in November 2020, when exports contracted by 8.74 per cent. 

    Briefing media, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that global headwinds are impacting consumption worldwide and that would have an impact on India’s exports as well. 

    The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has projected that the global trade growth will rise by 3.5 per cent in 2022 but only one per cent in 2023. India’s share in global merchandise trade is 1.8 per cent and in global services, it is 4 per cent, and there is a lot of potential to increase this, he said. 

    “We should not be depressed by the WTO forecast,” the secretary said, adding monetary tightening in the US and Europe is impacting demand globally. He also said that a lot of India’s exports have imported inputs like in the pharmaceuticals and there are also some seasonal effects on trade. 

    According to experts, rising domestic consumption along with economic growth is leading to higher imports, particularly of raw material, capital goods and intermediate products. When asked about the reason for releasing trade data now only once in a month, Barthwal said there were some fluctuations in the data released on first week of a month and then again by middle of that month, and “it was sending very confusing signals to our stake holders, so we decided to release most updated data” once a month. 

    Export sectors that recorded negative growth included gems and jewellery (21.56 per cent), engineering (21.26 per cent), petroleum products (11.28 per cent), ready-made garments of all textiles (21.16 per cent), chemicals (16.44 per cent), pharma (9.24 per cent), marine products (10.83 per cent), and leather (5.84 per cent). 

    Sectors that recorded positive growth included oil seeds, oil meals, electronic goods, tobacco, tea, and rice in October. Meanwhile, oil imports rose by 29.1 per cent to USD 15.8 billion. Gold imports, however, declined by 27.47 per cent to USD 3.7 billion during the month. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that slowdown in merchandise exports is a reflection of toughening global trade conditions amid demand slowdown on account of high inventories, rising inflation, economies entering recession, high volatility in currencies and geopolitical tensions.

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