Daily News - Thursday, 28 August 2025

⁠India may weave in 40 nations to diversify its textile exports (The Economic Times)

⁠As the US tariffs of 50% hit India’s $48 billion worth of exports, New Delhi is rolling out dedicated outreach programmes in 40 key countries, including the UK, UAE, Russia, Japan and South Korea, with plans for trade fairs, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets, and targeted branding campaigns to reposition India as a reliable global supplier. Officials say the commerce ministry will hold urgent meetings with exporters from sectors like textiles, gems, jewellery, chemicals and seafood to find ways to diversify and leverage FTAs, while export councils and Indian Missions will map markets, identify demand, and connect production clusters directly with opportunities abroad. These 40 markets together import over $590 billion worth of textiles annually, and with India’s current share at only 5-6%, policymakers see both an urgent need and a massive potential to expand despite US protectionism.

Trump Tariffs: India can get 25% off its tariffs if New Delhi stops buying Russian oil, says Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro (The Economic Times)

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has lashed out at India, accusing it of financing Russia’s war through discounted crude purchases and dubbing the conflict “Modi’s war,” just as President Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian goods took effect, striking at more than half of New Delhi’s exports to the US. India has firmly rejected the criticism, with ministers stressing energy security for 1.4 billion people and pointing out that discounted Russian oil has cushioned domestic prices, while exporters brace for pressure on garments, gems, footwear and chemicals, though sectors like pharma and electronics remain exempt. Analysts warn that the steep levies could hurt smaller exporters and threaten jobs, yet they also underline that US consumers will bear much of the cost, and with India’s strong domestic demand and economic fundamentals, the long-term relationship may endure despite the sharp trade and political rhetoric.

India to surpass US, become world’s 2nd largest economy by 2038: EY Report (Financial Express)

A new EY Economy Watch report projects that India, growing at an average of 6.5% compared to the US at 2.1%, will overtake America by 2038 in terms of purchasing power parity to become the world’s second largest economy, with its GDP expected to reach $34.2 trillion. The study emphasises India’s strengths—high investment ratios, strong consumption levels, and relatively low and declining government debt—contrasting them with the US, where debt levels are rising, and highlights that even the newly imposed 50% tariffs by Washington would shave off no more than 0.1% of India’s GDP growth. With India set to surpass Japan by 2025 and Germany by 2028 in market exchange terms, the report paints a confident picture that, despite short-term shocks, India’s trajectory toward global economic leadership is firm and resilient.

Textile exporters may shift base abroad to cater to US markets (Financial Express)

Indian textile and garment exporters are scrambling to protect their US business after Washington imposed steep 50% tariffs, with many shifting final production stages to countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Egypt, Indonesia and Jordan, while simultaneously facing heavy buyer demands for discounts of up to 20% that eat into already thin margins. Industry leaders explain that while bigger players with complex sourcing networks can juggle between multiple supply chains and even absorb some of the tariff impact through retail markups in the US, smaller exporters risk severe pressure, delayed orders, or even closure, raising fears of job losses in clusters already under stress. Still, experts note that Europe orders remain stable, there is a worker shortage rather than surplus in many hubs, and India retains an edge in 20–40% of exports with unique, high-value garments whose styling and embellishments cannot be easily replicated elsewhere, giving exporters cautious hope that disruption may ease within a few months.