Phones saving grace as exports to US decline

SECOND MONTH OF TARIFF-LED DROP

- MUKESH JAGOTA

ALL TRADITIONAL EXPORTS to the United States were in the red in October, as the 50% additional tariffs continued to bite India for the second consecutive month.

It is only telecom instruments—largely mobile phones—that kept overall exports to the US from going into deep contraction, as per data released by the commerce ministry on Saturday.

OVERALL MERCHANDISE EXPORTS to the US fell 8.59% on-year to $6.30 billion. The data showed that all labour-intensive sectors reported a sharp decline in exports to the biggest market.

The trend is a repeat of the September performance, the first full month when the full force of additional tariffs was felt. The 50% duties became effective from August 27.

Telecom instruments, mostly comprising smartphones, saw an increase of -204.3% on-year to $1.50 billion.