New Delhi: India on Thursday said its exports to Iran are largely humanitarian and it will wait for the US executive order on the 25 per cent tariff announced by President Donald Trump on countries doing business with Tehran to assess its implications.
Trump, in a social media post on Monday, said “effective immediately”, any country doing business with Iran will pay a tariff of 25 per cent on any and all business being done with the US.
“We have limited trade with Iran. Largely, our exports of goods and services are of a humanitarian nature. We are looking at that (announcement)...We are awaiting the details...we are awaiting the (executive) order,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters here when asked about the implication on India of the announcement.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that Indian companies and banks are in full and demonstrable compliance with OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanctions on Iran, engaging exclusively in clearly permitted humanitarian trade, mainly in food and pharmaceuticals.
The earlier sanctions imposed by OFAC of the US Department of the Treasury in November 2018 led to a sharp fall in bilateral trade between India and Iran.
India had a total trade of $1.68 billion with Iran in 2024-25, which included $1.24 billion in exports primarily from the farm sector.
India’s exports to Iran accounted for a meagre 0.28 per cent of its total $437 billion shipments in 2024-25.
India’s top exported products to Iran were cereals, animal fodder, tea and coffee, spices, fruits and vegetables, and pharmaceuticals.
The main imports from India include dry fruits, inorganic/organic chemicals and glassware.