Exporters on Thursday, December 26, sought a fund of Rs 750 crore for three years to tap $25 billion export potential in the US, aiming to seize potential opportunities that may arise as the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods.
In its pre-Budget meeting with the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar has also demanded extension of the five per cent Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES).
“A marketing scheme to focus on the US with a corpus of Rs 250 crore per year (Rs 750 crore overall) for three years may be launched to generate additional exports of $25 billion,” Kumar said.
He said that higher tariffs on China can create a significant opportunity for Indian exports, particularly in sectors where China has previously been a dominant supplier.
Based on a study undertaken by FIEO, India can replace China in sectors like electronics and electrical equipment ( $10 billion additional export potential), textiles and garments, toys, chemicals, auto components, footwear, furniture and home decor.
He added that India’s marketing strategy for exporting products to the US should focus on several key areas, particularly on marketing and forming strategic partnership.
India’s share in global trade doubled since 2005
India’s contribution to global trade has seen significant growth over the last two decades, with its share in both exports and imports doubling during this period, according to a report by the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The report revealed that India’s share in global merchandise exports rose from 0.9 per cent in 2005 to 1.8 per cent in 2023, while its share in services exports more than doubled from 2 per cent to 4.3 per cent.
Overall, India’s export share grew from 1.2 per cent in 2005 to 2.4 per cent in 2023. This growth has been driven by factors such as robust trade agreements, a diversified export portfolio, improved logistics infrastructure, and government initiatives like the Make in India campaign and the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
It also said “India’s performance in services exports better than goods: India ranks 16th globally in merchandise exports and the seventh in services exports.