Indian exports to US decline 37.5% in 5 months amid 50% Trump tariffs; smartphones, pharma take biggest hit: Report (mint)
India’s exports to the United States plunged by 37.5% between May and September 2025 — from $8.8 billion to $5.5 billion — as the steep “Trump tariffs,” which escalated to 50%, severely disrupted trade across all major sectors, exposing deep structural weaknesses in India’s export base. The hardest-hit segments were previously tariff-free goods such as smartphones and pharmaceuticals, whose shipments to the US fell 58% and 15.7% respectively, alongside steep declines in gems and jewellery (59.5%) and solar panels (60.8%), as competing nations like Vietnam and Thailand gained market share. While labour-intensive industries including textiles, agri-foods, and machinery suffered a 33% fall, even core industrial exports such as aluminium and copper weakened, indicating that both punitive tariffs and a slowdown in US industrial demand are jointly undermining India’s export resilience.
Untapped mines could save India $100 bn in imports annually: CSEP study (Business Standard)
India could potentially cut its annual import bill by over $100 billion if it taps into its underexplored domestic mineral reserves, as a CSEP report highlights that the country has exploited only 30% of its geological potential and that restrictive policies, high royalties, and bureaucratic hurdles have deterred private exploration. With the mining sector contributing a mere 2% to GDP—far below global peers—India’s heavy dependence on mineral imports, worth $157 billion in 2022 and nearly total reliance on critical minerals like lithium and cobalt, poses economic and strategic vulnerabilities. The report urges sweeping reforms such as adopting an E&P licensing model, creating a National Critical Mineral Stockpile, and empowering KABIL to secure overseas mineral assets to avoid replacing oil dependence on OPEC with critical mineral dependence on China.
Freight corridors slash logistics cost by 6% of GDP (Financial Express)
India’s logistics costs have fallen sharply from 14% to about 8–9% of GDP due to the expansion of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC), which have made freight transport faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient, according to the DFCCIL. With nearly 96% of the 2,843 km network operational and the final stretch of the Western DFC nearing completion, the corridors are enabling a major shift of container and goods traffic from roads to rail, reducing costs from Rs 3.78 per km by road to Rs 1.96 by rail. Once fully operational, the DFCs are expected to run over 430 trains daily at higher speeds of up to 75 kmph, further enhancing industrial competitiveness and boosting India’s overall logistics productivity.
