India's trade gap widens in March as Trump roils markets with tariff war

By Shruti Srivastava

   

India’s trade deficit widened in March, even as policymakers and exporters in the South Asian nation scramble to shield themselves from US President Donald Trump’s global tariff war. 

 

The gap between exports and imports stood at $21.54 billion last month, the trade data showed Tuesday. This is higher than the $15.5 billion deficit forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey. The trade deficit in February had narrowed to $14.05 billion, the lowest in more than three years.

 

Exports in March rose 0.7 per cent to $41.97 billion from a year earlier, while imports grew 11.4 per cent to $63.51 billion, the data showed. 

 

The last financial year “was difficult with so many things happening around the world,” Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters at a press briefing in New Delhi, referring to rising geopolitical tensions. India’s overall exports in the last financial year crossed $820 billion, he added.

 

The reading comes as the South Asian nation rushes to evade the worst of Trump’s trade actions. Indian exporters have been urging New Delhi officials to seal a bilateral trade deal with the US as soon as possible. In February, the two nations had agreed to conclude the first tranche of the pact by fall of this year.