The Commerce Ministry on Tuesday held a meeting with exporters and industry to hear their concerns about exports to the US market, which Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal can then take up with US officials during his meetings later this month.
Goyal will be in the US to attend the G-20 trade ministerial meeting to be held from September 30 to October 1. The meeting will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the US holds the G-20 presidency. After the G-20 meeting, the minister will lead a business delegation from India. The business meetings will be held in Chicago on October 2 and 3.
The visit will offer an opportunity for Goyal and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer — the host of the conference — to hold bilateral talks as both sides negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
The Tuesday meeting was chaired by Additional Secretary Darpan Jain, who acts as India’s chief negotiator for the proposed BTA. Representatives across critical export sectors—including pharmaceuticals, engineering, textiles, agriculture, chemicals, auto components, marine products, and electronics—attended the meeting, alongside delegates from apex trade bodies including CII, FICCI, Assocham, and FIEO.
“The additional secretary wanted to understand the situation of exports to the US, what the order bookings are, which sectors are doing well, which sectors are not doing well, and whether there are any concerns that the US can be requested to address,” an industry official who participated in the meeting said.
While India is facing the same level of additional tariff of 10% as other major exporters to the US, exporters are worried about what the second investigation on excess manufacturing capacities under Section 301 of the Trade Act can bring. The first investigation on the use of forced labour had brought these 10% additional duties on India and 59 other countries.
The industry was also concerned about the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 that has been passed by the US Senate and is before the US House of Representatives. The bill empowers the US President to impose additional tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying oil from Iran and Russia.
India’s exports to the US had been flat in April-June of this financial year but increased 12.8% year-on-year in July as uncertainty over tariffs imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act and Section 301 were settled.
“In the last month, the number of orders has increased, but the size of the orders is going down. The number of buyers placing orders has increased. There is a trend of de-risking that has been noticed on the part of buyers. They are now splitting their orders among different countries,” another industry official said.
Some exporters sought early conclusion of the BTA, which would reduce uncertainty in India’s biggest market.