Key Highlights
- Newsroom ReviewedIndia's economic performance during the year could be defined as resilience in the face of mounting global headwinds.
- From the United States' radical tariff policy to the exodus of foreign capital from the Indian markets, and the rupee's plunge below the 90-mark — 2025 can be viewed as the year that reshaped India's tryst with the global order. Here's a detailed look at the three major headwinds India faced during the year:Trump TariffsThe high US tariffs, say analysts, was arguably the toughest economic setback faced by India during the calendar year, as the levies dampened the country's exports to its biggest market. The tariffs saga started in April, when US President Donald Trump announced 10% interim duty on imports from all trading partners.
- A deadline was issued till July 31 to strike a trade deal with Washington to evade "reciprocal tariffs" from August. Since the India-US trade pact could not be finalised, a so-called reciprocal levy of 25% was imposed from Aug.
- 7, and from Aug.
- 27, another 25% tariffs was slapped on Indian imports to "penalise" the country for its continued purchase of Russian crude oil. This took the cumulative tariffs on India to 50%, which was the highest among all major trading partners, and even dwarfed the 47.5% average tariff imposed on China. Between May and October 2025, Indian shipments to the US dwindled from $8.83 billion to $6.31 billion, marking a 28.5% plunge, economic think-tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said in a recent release. Monthly exports fell consistently from $2 billion in June to $1.52 billion in July, crashed to $964.8 million in August, eased further to $884.6 million in September, and finally recovered to $1.5 billion in October, it added. India, however, has managed to weather the storm by diversifying its exports to other key geographies.
