Written by Ravi Dutta MishraNovember 17, 2025 03:27 PM IST 3 min readUS President Donald Trump last week said that the US will bring down tariffs on India, and that Washington and New Delhi are close to signing a trade deal. (Reuters File Photo)After a 12 per cent decline in the previous month, Indian goods exports to the US further slipped 9 per cent in October against the backdrop of 50 per cent US tariffs, the highest globally, leaving Indian goods uncompetitive compared to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and even China, which has had a prolonged trade war with the US.Data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed that India’s exports to the US slipped 8.6 per cent to $6.3 billion in October 2025 compared to $6.9 billion in October last year.Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said Indian exporters have managed to hold on to the US market, and exports in November will be better after the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) has been approved and other measures announced to boost manufacturing.“The part of the agreement that need to be addressed that is the reciprocal tariffs hopefully will be addressed soon. There is no deadline at this point. Both countries remained in touch,” Agarwal said.Policy measures takenDue to the steep impact of US tariffs, the Union Cabinet last week cleared the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) announced in the Budget, with an outlay of Rs 25,060 crore to help sustain export orders. The government also extended additional credit facilities of up to Rs 20,000 crore to exporters.Aimed at easing debt repayment pressures on certain exporters hit by US tariffs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a four-month moratorium on loans and interest payments from September 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025. The RBI last week also extended export credit tenors to 450 days and relaxed asset classification norms, which would ease the payment burden.Several ministries have also begun revoking quality control orders that have been hurting Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) in particular. In just the last week, 14 QCOs on chemical intermediaries that play a crucial role in the textile value chain were rolled back, and 7 QCOs on key industrial input items such as copper and aluminium were also revoked.Trade deal likelyStory continues below this adGovernment officials have said that India has sent its final proposal to the US and is awaiting Washington’s response. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier this year said that the US will play an important role in India’s energy security going forward.US President Donald Trump last week said that the US will bring down tariffs on India, and that Washington and New Delhi are close to signing a trade deal. The deal with India is in focus as the US has already signed an agreement with China lowering tariffs to 47 per cent.“Right now, the tariffs are very high on India because of the Russian oil, and they have stopped doing the Russian oil… It’s being reduced very substantially. We will bring the tariffs down at some point,” Trump said during a White House press briefing.Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:US Tariffs