Speaking to ANI, Sharma said India has several alternative export destinations and is not heavily dependent on the US market, even as the two countries share strong trade and economic ties.
“We have another 15 markets where we can export our same products which we are exporting to the US. If the exports to the US are around 87-88 billion dollars in merchandise exports, then we have a large market of 200 billion dollars in another 15 countries in the same products,” Sharma said.
He identified the Netherlands, France, the UK, countries in Latin America, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Nepal among markets where Indian exporters could diversify their shipments.
Sharma said India’s exports to the US stood at USD 87.3 billion in 2025-26, compared with USD 86.5 billion in 2024-25, despite tariff-related uncertainty and other global headwinds.
“Despite these headwinds, our exporters were able to show resilience, were able to make increase in their export trajectory because there is a lot of demand in the US for Indian products, we are competitive and we are providing the labour-intensive products to the US,” he said.
He further said exports to some alternative markets were expanding faster than shipments to the US.”If we are growing with US at 10-15 per cent, then our growth rate in exports with other markets is between 20-25 per cent. So I believe we have alternatives and we are not that much dependent on the US economy,” Sharma said.
However, he stressed that India continues to have strong economic relations with the US and the two countries are engaged in negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.
Sharma also argued that tariffs of up to 100 per cent would not benefit either economy and could lead to higher prices for American consumers, given India’s position as a competitive, low-cost supplier.
“Trade is always for the welfare, trade is not for the tussles,” Sharma said.
“Such kind of announcements are not in favour of US economy too because they will face the inflation,” he added, arguing that higher tariffs on Indian products could add to price pressures in the world’s largest economy.
Sharma said continued trade engagement between India and the US would be more beneficial for both economies than additional tariff barriers.