US Tariffs, EU Trade Policies Increasing Pressure On Indian Exports, Says DGFT Head

Santosh Sarangi, Head, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), said that it was ‘high time India also looked at our trade and industrial policies comprehensively’.

The American Preisdent has proposed to impose tariffs on other trading partners such as India from April.

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Global trade policies are adding on to the pressure for Indian exports. A sneior trade ministry official on Tuesday said that domestic exports are under a lot of constraint due to aggressive trade measures being undertaken by major partners such as the European Union and the US.

Santosh Sarangi, Head, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), said that it was ‘high time India also looked at our trade and industrial policies comprehensively’, reported Reuters.

Notably, US President Donald Trump imposed fresh tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico on Tuesday, resulting in Canada and China responding with reciprocal tariffs. This made the threat of a global trade war much more real and triggered major concerns across the world.

India Could Face Tariffs In April

Further, the American Preisdent has proposed to impose tariffs on other trading partners such as India from April. This has increased the worries for Indian exporters across sectors from autos to agriculture. Citi Research analysts estimate that the potential losses of these tariffs could reach $7 billion a year.

Addressing business leaders in a virtual address, Sarangi said India’s export ambitions are being harmed by limited integration into global value chains, escalated import tariffs on raw materials, and technological disadvantages in some manufacturing sectors.

Indian Exports Need To Catch Up

Outlining a ‘daunting’ goal for India, he said, “India needs an average growth of 14.4 per cent per annum to achieve the target of $2 trillion in overall exports by 2030/31.”

Notably, India’s overall goods and services exports have grown at an average rate of only 5.2 per cent in the last decade. Data from the commerce ministry revealed that the total exports climbed to $682.59 billion in the first ten months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year, over 7.2 per cent higher than $636.69 billion clocked in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, imports reached $770 billion during the April 2024 to January 2025 period, resulting in a trade deficit of $87.47 billion. 

On Monday, Piyush Goyal also began his trip to the US to negotiate trade talks, prior to the planned tariff measures from Trump.