NEW DELHI — India’s merchandise shipments rose sharply in November 2025, defying steep U.S. tariffs imposed earlier this year and strengthening New Delhi’s leverage in stalled trade talks with Washington while easing the pressure on policymakers to strike an early agreement. According to the latest data available from the government, exports have seen a marked rebound-even as duties on Indian goods in the U.S. market remain among the highest in the world-indicating resilience in India’s external sector and bright prospects for broader trade cooperation.
Driven by strong demand across key segments, India’s total merchandise exports reached $38.13 billion in November, the highest for that month in over a decade, according to official data. Exports to the United States, despite facing punitive levies as high as 50 percent on many products, grew about 22.6 percent year-on-year, outpacing overall export growth and demonstrating exporters’ adaptability to higher trade costs.
The turnaround is the result of a tumultuous period in trade relations between India and the U.S. In August 2025, the U.S. further widened the range of Indian inputs they had imposed an increased duty on in view of New Delhi’s energy sector procurements and policy discrepancies, hinting at a deep and severe downturn. Exports to America had considerably plummeted in the first few months after the increase in the levels of the duty.
However, according to economists, the India exports surge is a result of the overall trend of widening their trade and product base, which has impacted India positively and reduced the effect of U.S. tariffs. India is also actively working on diversifying their trade and have established or proposed free trade agreements with trade partners spread across Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. The result of this diversification in trade, along with their flexible business approach and impressive domestic demand, has contributed to India’s exporters picking up speed in the international trade arena.
Strong services exports have buffered the goods tariffs’ shock, too. In November, services receipts jumped to almost $35.86 billion, Widening the overall trade surplus in services to about $18 billion and underlining India’s competitiveness in the information technology, business process outsourcing, and knowledge-intensive services sectors. These gains make for a case of services being a big part of India’s export resilience.
A weaker Indian rupee, which has fallen close to 6% against the dollar in the last year, further boosted export performance as it made Indian products more price-competitive in international markets. The expansion in domestic demand and production-especially in electronics and engineering goods-also played an important role in encouraging shipments abroad.
The strong export performance in India has practical implications for its trade negotiation posture in its bilateral relationship with the United States. Indian officials indicated that their strong exports reduce the pressure to concede quick gains in their talks with the American side on disputed areas, including access to agricultural markets and reduction in tariffs. New Delhi is said to be insisting upon a cut in U.S. tariffs from the present level of 50 percent to about 25 percent, which is more in line with international trade practice.
“It gives India a stronger bargaining chip and allows the negotiators to think in terms of trade-offs instead of buckling to American demands,” said a top Indian trade negotiator. For its part, the US is also calling for greater access to the Indian market as well as the removal of any non-tariff barriers that may have been created during trade negotiations.
Industry organizations are cautiously hopeful in regard to the latest export figures. Though certain industries, like textiles and jewelry, are still facing challenges in North America because of tariffs, others, such as technology and information technology hardware, are taking advantage of non-tariff routes to increase their presence in other markets.
Looking forward, it has been reported that the only way the current export growth can be sustained in the year 2026 is if India is able to efficiently navigate the fluctuations of global demand and reach favorable trade agreements that also capture the growth of the emerging market that is tariff-neutral or has less stringent regulations compared to the market in the U.S. However, the export growth in November indicates that there is a stronger and capable export environment in India that can navigate the trade tensions and position itself in the best manner in future global negotiations.
Clear Cut Research Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: Dec 26, 2025 12:05 IST
Written By: Ayushman Meena
