Falling exports of tariff-free products to U.S. cause of concern: Congress

NEW DELHI : The Congress on Tuesday (September 23, 2025) voiced concern over falling exports of tariff-free products like pharma and smartphones to the United States, saying it is “certainly not a seasonal fall”.

In a post on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “It was only to be expected that India’s exports to the USA that have been subjected to higher Trump tariffs would fall. And indeed they have.” “But why and how are India’s TARIFF-FREE exports to the USA falling?” he asked.

He said an analysis by the respected New Delhi-based research outfit GTRI is a cause for concern, even if the data is only for four months.

“Of course, it reveals that exports of gems and jewellery, seafoods, textiles and garments, and chemicals have fallen. But surprisingly India’s export of tariff-free products have also declined from $3.37 billion in May 2025 to $1.96 billion in August 2025. This includes exports of pharmaceuticals and smartphones,” Mr. Ramesh said in his post. “This is certainly not a seasonal fall,” he also said.

India’s smartphone exports to its largest market, the U.S., fell 58% from $2.29 billion in May to $964.8 million in August, think tank GTRI said on Monday (September 22).

It said the development is alarming and counter-intuitive as there are no tariffs on smartphones.

“This demands urgent investigation to uncover the real reasons that are driving the fall,” the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. Smartphone exports, India’s largest export to the U.S., plunged 58% from $2.29 billion in May 2025 to $964.8 million in August, it said, adding the fall was steady month by month.

It added that tariff-free products, which account for 28.5% of India’s August exports, posted the sharpest contraction of 41.9%, falling from $3.37 billion in May to $1.96 billion in August.

Pharmaceuticals also weakened, with exports dropping 13.3%, from $745 million in May to $646.6 million in August.