The US is planning to slap a 100% tariff on Russian crude customers, and concerns are rising over India’s next move.The Trump administration’s green signal for imposing the hefty duty on countries buying Russian crude has raised concerns over India’s exports. However, economist SP Sharma said that Indian exporters have 15 alternative markets for the same products, with a potential $200 billion market waiting beyond the US.Speaking to ANI, Sharma said India has scope to diversify its exports and is not excessively dependent on the US market, despite the strong trade and economic relationship between the two countries.“We have another 15 markets where we can export our same products which we are exporting to the US. If the exports to the US are around 87-88 billion dollars in merchandise exports, then we have a large market of 200 billion dollars in another 15 countries in the same products,” Sharma said.Among the markets he identified are the Netherlands, France, the UK, countries in Latin America, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Nepal.
Major market but not the only one
India’s merchandise exports to the US increased to $87.3 billion in 2025-26 from $86.5 billion in 2024-25, despite tariff-related uncertainty and other global headwinds, Sharma said.He said Indian exporters had continued to expand shipments because of demand for Indian products in the US and their competitiveness in labour-intensive goods.“Despite these headwinds, our exporters were able to show resilience, were able to make increase in their export trajectory because there is a lot of demand in the US for Indian products, we are competitive and we are providing the labour-intensive products to the US,” he said.But the US is not necessarily the fastest-growing destination for Indian exports, according to Sharma. He said shipments to some other markets are expanding at a quicker pace.“If we are growing with US at 10-15 per cent, then our growth rate in exports with other markets is between 20-25 per cent. So I believe we have alternatives and we are not that much dependent on the US economy,” Sharma said.
Higher tariffs could hurt US consumers too
While pointing to alternative markets, Sharma also stressed that India and the US continue to have strong economic ties. The two countries are also engaged in negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.He argued that tariffs of up to 100 per cent would not work in favour of either economy, as higher duties on Indian products could push up prices for American consumers. India, he said, is a competitive and low-cost supplier.“Trade is always for the welfare, trade is not for the tussles,” Sharma said.“Such kind of announcements are not in favour of US economy too because they will face the inflation,” he added.Sharma said continued trade engagement between India and the US would be more beneficial for both economies than imposing additional tariff barriers.
