New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Industry body Assocham said on Thursday that India’s exports to the United States rose 3.8 per cent year‑on‑year in 2025‑26 (April‑February), and the share of exports to the US held steady at 19.7 per cent.

The share of total merchandise exports to the US was 19.3 per cent a year earlier, the statement said, noting India’s trade performance remained resilient despite steep tariff challenges and escalating geopolitical conflicts.

“We believe that India’s total merchandise exports will be between $440 billion and $450 billion for 2025-26, compared with $437 billion in 2024-25,” the statement said.

The export share to the top ten trade partners of India showed little change in composition from 2024‑25. The UAE, China, the Netherlands, and the UK maintained their places in the top five as trading partners while Hong Kong entered the top ten in April‑February 2026, replacing Australia.

The exports to the US for April‑February 2026 totaled $79.3 billion, up from $76.3 billion in the same period a year earlier.

“The last financial year, 2025‑26, was an extremely challenging year for India’s trade trajectory, and we have demonstrated our resilience in a significant way,” said Nirmal Kumar Minda, President, Assocham.

On the import side, China continued as India’s top source country, with its share rising to 17 per cent from 16 per cent.

Additionally, the top ten source countries remained the same, except that Hong Kong and Japan replaced Indonesia and Korea.

This supply chain trajectory reflects India’s strong resilience, supported by the government’s trade facilitation measures and our traders’ efforts to mitigate the worst impacts and turn adversities into opportunities, the industry body said.

It predicted India’s export resilience to grow stronger with the support of recent policy actions and reforms, such as the RoDTEP scheme extension until September 30, 2026, and approval of the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna (BHAVYA) Scheme for plug-and-play industrial parks.

Further, the extension of the Export Obligation (EO) period for specific Advance Authorisations and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Authorisations until August 31, 2026 will also drive growth.

—IANS

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