Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, in a statement on Thursday evening, "cautioned export promotion councils to overcome their protectionist mindset and encouraged them to be bold and ready" to confront the world from "a position of strength and self-confidence. "
After a virtual consultation meeting with exporters and other industry representatives, Goyal said in a social media post that the discussions revolved around ways to expand into new markets and strengthen competitiveness to drive India's export growth. The discussion was against the backdrop of the US administration's reciprocal tariffs starting from April 2.
The Business Standard quoted a source aware of the discussions as saying that "The message was clear - Indian industry needs to open up." Another person who attended the meeting said that, as of now, there was no pushback on tariff cuts from the labour-intensive export sectors such as textiles, leather, and chemicals. They have communicated their stance to the government, he pointed out. While asking exporters to focus on their strengths, Goyal asked them to share their demands and interests for better engagement with the US.
A third person who attended the interaction said the larger concerns about cuts have been from sectors such as agriculture, automobile, and alcohol, although these sectors weren't discussed separately at Thursday's virtual meeting.
Reflecting on the changing global scenario, the minister assured all export promotion councils that the government was working to ensure a good future for Indian exporters, both merchandise and service, and to protect the interests of the country, the ministry statement said.
The minister Indicated that the government had reached the final stages in free-trade agreements (FTAs) with a few countries. On the efforts related to bilateral agreements, Goyal said the government was concurrently acting on several tracks and "each one of those tracks is aimed at ensuring best interests of the Indian exporters".
"The optimism among our industry stakeholders in transforming global challenges into opportunities is truly encouraging," Goyal said after the meeting. Top officials from the department of commerce, including commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal, were present in the meeting, which discussed the current export scenario, proposed trade agreement with the US and the potential impact of tariff cuts.
After the meeting, Pankaj Chadha, Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC) India chairman, pointed out that MSME exporters are a worried lot. "Total exports of $5 billion are hit by the recent tariff imposed by the US," he said.
Exporters are seeing a worrying trend of holding back orders, anticipating reciprocal tariffs by the US. They are closely following the developments, and are on a "wait and watch" mode.
India's merchandise exports have slowed, with a modest 1.4 percent year-on-year growth, totaling $359 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal. Also, exports have experienced a three-month contraction- from November to January- amid softening global petroleum prices and escalating economic uncertainty fueled by geopolitical tensions.
India is on the path to cross $800 billion this year with a major share of services exports, the government statement said.