**India’s Smartphone Exports to the US Plummet for Unknown Reasons**
*By Dwaipayan Roy | Sep 22, 2025, 07:11 pm*
India’s smartphone exports to the United States, its largest market, have experienced a staggering 58% decline between May and August 2025. According to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), this sharp drop is particularly alarming given that there are no tariffs on smartphones.
Exports fell consistently over the months, dropping from $2.29 billion in May to just $964.8 million in August. This unexpected trend has raised concerns among industry experts and trade analysts.
**Urgent Call for Investigation**
The GTRI has urged for an immediate investigation to uncover the underlying reasons behind the steep decline in smartphone exports. The think tank pointed out that this trend is counter-intuitive, as smartphones remain tariff-free in the US market.
In the fiscal year 2025, the US was India’s largest smartphone market, with imports valued at $10.6 billion. This accounted for 44% of India’s global smartphone exports, which totaled $24.1 billion.
**Impact on Other Sectors**
The decline in exports is not limited to smartphones alone. Several other sectors supplying tariff-free products have also suffered significant drops.
Tariff-free products, which made up 28.5% of India’s exports to the US in August, saw the sharpest contraction of 41.9%. Exports in this segment fell from $3.37 billion in May to $1.96 billion in August.
Pharmaceutical exports dropped by 13.3%, while jewelry exports declined by 9.1%. Seafood shipments took an even larger hit, plummeting by a staggering 43.8%.
**Further Sectoral Declines**
Beyond these, India’s textile and garment exports to the US decreased by 9.3% between May and August 2025. Chemical exports also dipped by 15.9% during the same period.
Ajay Srivastava, Founder of GTRI, noted that India’s exports to the US have been falling for three consecutive months. He also highlighted concerns that the steep tariffs imposed in August could further impact export figures in September.
**Conclusion**
The unusual decline in India’s smartphone exports to the US calls for a thorough investigation to identify the causes and explore remedial measures. Meanwhile, the deteriorating export scenario across multiple sectors poses challenges to India’s trade relations with its largest market. Stakeholders await clarity on this pressing issue as it unfolds.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/india-s-smartphone-exports-to-us-down-58-in-3-months/story