US tariffs bite: India’s engineering exports slump 16.7% in October

India’s engineering goods exports fell a steep 16.71 per cent year-on-year successful October 2025 to $9.37 billion, chiefly owed to a crisp driblet successful shipments to the US and a precocious basal effect, the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) said connected Saturday.Exports to cardinal markets recorded wide declines, with the Asean portion seeing an astir 50 per cent autumn to $1.02 billion.The US remained India’s apical destination for engineering goods, but shipments dropped 14.5 per cent to $1.39 cardinal successful October 2025, compared with $1.63 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier. The diminution was driven by the combined interaction of Section 232 tariffs and reciprocal tariffs, EEPC said. Exports to the UAE fell 19.3 per cent to $667 million, portion North America and the EU — the apical 2 regions — besides witnessed year-on-year declines for the 2nd consecutive month.

Significant drops were noted crossed WANA, South Asia, Latin America and the CIS region.“While a precocious basal effect was 1 of the reasons for the driblet successful exports during October this year, it was besides a effect of the US-administered reciprocal tariffs… The manufacture believes that commercialized diversion owed to US tariffs is 1 of the reasons down the declining exports,” EEPC Chairman Pankaj Chadha said. He added that the manufacture welcomed the authorities approving implicit Rs 25,000 crore for the Export Promotion Mission and Rs 20,000 crore for recognition warrant support.

The autumn successful October marked the 2nd monthly diminution of FY26 aft May, ending a four-month streak of growth. Panel-wise information showed large contractions successful ‘Aircrafts and Spacecraft’ and ‘Ships, Boats and Floating structures’, some falling implicit 80 per cent.Key categories including ‘Electrical machinery’, ‘Products of robust and steel’, ‘Industrial machinery’ and ‘Aluminium products’ besides registered year-on-year declines.

Overall, 23 of 34 engineering panels recorded antagonistic maturation successful October.India’s exports to the US person been nether unit for months owed to steep tariff hikes. Between May and October 2025, US-bound shipments fell 28.5 per cent arsenic American duties climbed from 10 per cent successful April to 50 per cent by precocious August, arsenic per a GTRI report. Labour-intensive goods, which faced 50 per cent tariffs, saw a 31.2 per cent driblet successful the aforesaid period.Despite the October setback, engineering exports grew 1.68 per cent connected a cumulative ground during April-October 2025, rising to $68.73 cardinal from $67.60 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier, ANI reported.