India’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $24.53 billion in November, driven by a fall in gold, oil and coal imports, according to government export and import data released on Monday and calculations by Reuters. India’s exports in November rose 19.37% to $38.13 billion. The trade deficit was at $41.68 billion in the previous month of October.
India is currently facing steep tariffs of up to 50% from the United States and is in talks with the US to negotiate a trade deal, with the expectation of a tariff reduction. Latest in the India US trade deal- Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with US President Donald Trump last week following a US trade delegation’s visit as New Delhi. Washington, on the other hand, is pushing India to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US goods and open its market to American farm products, including soybeans and grain sorghum.
On top of this Mexico also imposed 50% tariff on India among its other trade partners. The government has rolled out several measures recently, including GST reform, cutting taxes on a range of products, an export promotion package and labour reforms, to cushion the economy from the impact of steep US tariffs.
