September Trade Deficit Rises To 13-Month High Of $32 Billion

India's merchandise trade deficit rose to $32.15 billion in September versus $26.5 billion in August, according to a press briefing by the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday. This was the highest in 13 months, led by a surge in imports, including gold.

Exports grew by 6.7% on an annual basis to $36.38 billion, whereas imports grew by 16.6% on an annual basis to $68.53 billion. On a monthly basis, merchandise exports rose by 3.6%, while imports rose by 11.3%.

Imports have surged sharply in September, leading to the rise in the merchandise trade deficit. This includes higher imports of gold, fertilisers, electronics and silver. However, cumulative gold import has been below last year, officials said.

The rise in gold imports can be attributed to Diwali, and a pick-up in rural spending. As production and export of smartphones increase, some components have also seen higher surge, officials added.

Overall exports in September saw an uptick from a year ago to $67.2 billion, while imports surged to $83.82 billion.

Commenting on India-US trade, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that growth in exports to the US is expected to continue, with the impact of tariffs expected to start coming in from September or October, he said.

Also commenting on China's complaint against India at the WTO, officials said that they are taking a look at the detailed submissions made by China. China has also filed similar complaints against the EU, Turkey and Canada, they added.