Falling exports of tariff-free merchandise to U.S. reason behind concern: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday (September 23, 2025) voiced concern over falling exports of tariff-free merchandise like pharma and smartphones to the United States, saying it’s “definitely not a seasonal fall”.

In a put up on X, Congress chief Jairam Ramesh mentioned, “It was solely to be anticipated that India’s exports to the USA which have been subjected to greater Trump tariffs would fall. And certainly they’ve.” “But why and the way are India’s TARIFF-FREE exports to the USA falling?” he requested.

He mentioned an evaluation by the revered New Delhi-based analysis outfit GTRI is a trigger for concern, even when the information is just for 4 months.

 Package | A group of floor experiences and analyses, uncovering the affect of those tariffs on completely different sides of the Indian financial system.

“Of course, it reveals that exports of gems and jewelry, seafoods, textiles and clothes, and chemical substances have fallen. But surprisingly India’s export of tariff-free merchandise have additionally declined from $3.37 billion in May 2025 to $1.96 billion in August 2025. This contains exports of prescription drugs and smartphones,” Mr. Ramesh mentioned in his put up.

“This is definitely not a seasonal fall,” he additionally mentioned.

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, suppose tank GTRI mentioned on Monday (September 22).

It mentioned the event is alarming and counter-intuitive as there aren’t any tariffs on smartphones.

“This calls for pressing investigation to uncover the actual causes which might be driving the autumn,” the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) mentioned.

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 mentioned, including the autumn was regular month by month.

It added that tariff-free merchandise, 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 additionally weakened, with exports dropping 13.3%, from $745 million in May to $646.6 million in August.