As India struggles to find its footing after the US administration imposed high tariffs of 50 per cent on its exports, the Centre is seeking ways to boost falling exports through discussions with industry stakeholders on new policies and free trade agreements with a host of nations.
Now, the Board of Trade (BoT) is scheduled to meet on November 25 to discuss strategies to boost India’s exports, an official has said.
“The BoT is meeting on November 25,” the official said.
Headed by the Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, the board includes participants from various states, Union territories, and senior officials from the public and private sectors, along with representatives of export promotion councils and other participants who will present their views on the export sector.
The Board of Trade offers a platform to trade and industry leaders as well as state governments and Union territories to have discussions on trade policy and advise the government on foreign trade policy measures to achieve the objective of boosting India’s trade.
It’s also a platform for the central government to apprise industry stakeholders about international developments affecting India’s trade potential and opportunities.
To deal with global uncertainties at the trade front, the government, on November 12, approved the export promotion mission with an outlay of ₹25,060 crore for six financial years, beginning 2025-26, to help exporters deal with high tariffs imposed by the US.
Also Read: Export promotion mission may come into play next week
The mission will be implemented through two sub-schemes – Niryat Protsahan (₹10,401 crore) and Niryat Disha (₹14,659 crore).
During April-October, this fiscal, India’s exports had increased marginally by 0.63 per cent to USD 254.25 billion, and imports rose 6.37 per cent to USD 451.08 billion. But, its exports fell by a steep 11.8 per cent to USD 34.38 billion in October on account of the impact of high tariffs by the US, while its imports surged 16.63 per cent to an all-time high of USD 76.06 billion due to high inbound shipments of gold, silver, cotton raw/waste, fertiliser, and Sulphur.
This brought the country’s trade deficit to a record high of USD 41.68 billion.
Meanwhile, India’s merchandise exports to the US, its largest export destination, declined for the second consecutive month in October, falling by 8.58 per cent to USD 6.3 billion due to the hefty tariffs imposed by Washington.
India and the US are currently negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, the first phase of which is expected to be announced soon, which would also address the tariff issue as India targets USD 2 trillion worth of goods and services exports by 2030.
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