While the big economies of the world seem troubled by the sound of recession, the story of India is telling something different. Amidst global uncertainties, the Indian economy has once again proved its strength. The latest data has refuted all the fears that Donald Trump's tariff policies would deal a deep blow to India's trade. After November, a significant increase in India's exports has been recorded in December also.
The latest data released by the Commerce Ministry has breathed new life into the market. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal informed on Thursday that the country's merchandise exports have increased by 1.87 percent to 38.5 billion dollars in the month of December. This figure is also important because at present the demand in the global market is low. This means that even when the world is hesitant in purchasing goods, there is still demand for 'Made in India' products. However, there has also been an increase on the import front. Imports increased to $63.55 billion in December 2025, which was $58.43 billion in the same month last year. Due to this, the trade deficit has been 25 billion dollars.
A few months ago, when Donald Trump had decided to increase the import duty (tariff) in America, many economic pundits had sounded alarm bells for India. After the tariff increase in late August, there were concerns that Indian goods would become expensive and sales would fall. But India very cleverly changed its strategy.
Instead of relying solely on America, India 'diversified' its market. That is, we started selling our goods to China, Russia and Middle East countries. The government gave many incentives for this and planned trade pacts with many places including the European Union. Due to which Indian shipment gained momentum.
An interesting thing revealed in the data is that there has been a slight decline in exports to America in December. It decreased from $6.92 billion in November to $6.89 billion. But if we look at the big picture of the entire financial year, exports to America have increased by almost 10 percent to $65.88 billion in the first nine months.
At the same time, rumors have started again on the stalled 'trade deal' between India and America. The Commerce Secretary has clarified that the talks have not broken down, but the teams of both the countries are in virtual contact. Recently Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has also discussed important issues like trade and energy with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, no deadline has been set yet for when the deal will be finalized.
The confidence of the government is so high that a big target has been set for the current financial year 2025-26. It is estimated that this year India's total exports (including goods and services) may cross 850 billion dollars. Between April and December, exports have increased by 2.44 percent to $330.29 billion.
