New Delhi, Feb 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) India's combined merchandise and services exports recorded a 13.16 per cent increase to $80.45 billion in January this year, compared with $71.09 billion in the same month of the previous year, data released by the Commerce Ministry on Monday showed.
The country’s merchandise exports rose 0.6 per cent year-on-year to $36.56 billion in January, despite the global economic uncertainties, the data showed.
Cumulative exports of both merchandise and services (April–January) recorded a 6.15 per cent rise to $720.76 billion.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told journalists that merchandise and services exports have remained in positive territory. "We will be nearing $860 billion in overall exports in the current financial year."
However, imports of goods during January recorded a 19 per cent increase to $71.24 billion due to the sharp rise in gold and silver shipments. As a result, the merchandise trade deficit widened to $34.68 billion compared to $23.43 billion in January 2025 and $25 billion in December.
The trade figures for January also reflect the last month of the adverse impact of US tariffs on Indian exports, as the Trump administration has announced a reduction in tariffs for Indian exports to 18 per cent from 30 per cent earlier.
The finalisation of the India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement delivers comprehensive tariff rationalisation, zero-duty access across large product categories, enhanced digital and technology cooperation, and a carefully calibrated framework to safeguard India’s farmers, MSMEs and domestic industry, according to an official statement.
With India’s total exports to the United States standing at $86.35 billion in 2024, the agreement significantly enhances competitive access across key sectors, including textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, agriculture, machinery, home decor, pharmaceuticals, and technology-driven industries.
Under the agreement, tariffs on $30.94 billion worth of these exports have been reduced from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, while tariffs on another $10.03 billion have been reduced from 50 per cent to zero. This means a substantial share of Indian goods entering the U.S. market will now face either sharply lower tariffs or completely duty-free access, significantly improving price competitiveness.
Source: IANS
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz
This website uses cookies.
