Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump deliver a joint press statement after their meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC on Feb. 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (July 31, 2025) announced a 25% tariff on Indian imports into the U.S., effective August 1, following a 90-day pause in tariffs announced in April. In a post on the platform Truth Social, he called India’s tariffs “too high” and said that it had “strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers.”
He also criticised India for its fossil fuel trade with Russia. Mr. Trump has been trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine to stop the three-year ongoing war between the two countries, with no firm deal in sight yet.
In this context, here is an overview of the India-U.S. trade.
How much does India export to and import from the U.S.?
In 2024-25, India’s exports to the U.S. were valued over 86,000 million dollars, with imports being over 45,000 million dollars. In terms of percentage, the U.S. made up around 20% of India’s exports and 6.3% of its imports.
India has always imported more than it exported to the U.S. Exports to the U.S. fell sharply in January this year and have continued to remain below levels not seen after 2022. India exported in March this year the lowest since April 2016.
What does India send to the U.S.?
India’s major exports to the U.S. include telecom equipment, drug formulations and biologicals, textiles, petroleum, iron and steel, pearl and precious stones and more.
However, there are variations in the percentage of each of these products that India exports to the U.S. compared to total exports of the product to all countries. For instance, India sends over 63% of all telecom exports to the U.S. For petroleum products, this is 7%.
It is to be noted that the 25% tariff rule does not include some products like pharmaceuticals, electronics and ICT goods, and petroleum products.
India-Russia trade
One of Mr. Trump’s criticisms is India’s trade with Russia in the area of energy. As part of its opposition to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the European Union along with other Western countries imposed sanctions on Russian goods and individuals, and cut down on its imports of Russian energy after 2022.
However, India increased its imports of Russian energy from around 2% of total Russian exports to over 20% in response to cheaper prices of discounted Russian oil.
In a media briefing on Friday (August 1, 2025), the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that decisions regarding the sourcing of energy were “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”
Similarly, External Affairs Minister said in 2023 that the country had to source oil where it was cheapest. He pointed out that European countries are “diverting production out of the Middle East and raising prices.”
Besides energy imports, India’s imports of Russian military equipment was another of Mr. Trump’s complaints. In 2024, India imported around 40% of its military imports from Russia. Exports to India made up 34% of Russia’s total exports.
According to SIPRI, Russia was the top supplier to India, followed by France and Israel in 2024. However, Indian sources told Reuters that the country was looking to pivot away from Russian arms since Russia’s munitions were depleted due to its war with Ukraine. This also aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme to boost domestic production.
On military procurement, Mr. Jaiswal said sourcing was determined “solely by our national security imperatives and strategic assessments” on Friday.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Published – August 02, 2025 11:15 am IST
.