- Friday, April 04, 2025
India is the world’s largest hub for diamond cutting and polishing, handling nine out of every 10 diamonds processed globally
By: India Weekly
INDIA’S $32 billion (£24.29bn) gems and jewellery industry is bracing for a sharp fall in exports as hefty US reciprocal tariffs will impede overseas sales to its biggest market, industry officials said.
The United States slapped a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on India, dealing a blow to its hopes of relief under president Donald Trump’s global trade policy.
“The tariff is higher than expected,” Colin Shah, managing director of Kama Jewellery, one of India’s leading diamond jewellery manufacturers, told Reuters.
“It is quite severe and will affect exports.”
India is the world’s largest hub for diamond cutting and polishing, handling nine out of every 10 diamonds processed globally.
The United States accounts for nearly $10 billion or 30.4 per cent of India’s annual gems and jewellery exports of $32 billion.
Gems and jewellery are India’s third-largest export to the United States, after engineering and electronic goods, and the industry employs millions.
The sector has already been hit in recent months by weak demand from China and exports dropped 14.5 per cent to $32.3 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year (April-March).
A long-term bilateral trade deal with the United States could help soften the blow, Shah said.
India and the United States are in talks to clinch an early trade deal.
“We’re pretty hopeful that India could land a trade deal with the US in the next few months. So, we just need to push through this tough phase for a little while longer,” said Shaunak Parikh, vice chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). (Reuters)
