Indian jewelry exporters look to Saudi market after US tariff
Business
‘All exporters are forced to look at new markets (to) offset the losses from the US’
(Web Desk) - More than 100 Indian jewelers traveled to Jeddah this week to participate in the inaugural Saudi Arabia Jewelry Exposition (SAJEX), as the industry looks to diversify export markets in response to US President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on goods from India.
As part of his ongoing global trade war, Trump doubled the total duty on Indian exports to 50 percent last month, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil as a reason.
With the levies — the highest in Asia and among the greatest ever imposed on a major trading partner by any American administration — expected to hit labor-intensive sectors such as gems and jewelry, the industry’s apex body in India is now working to find alternative markets to offset their impact.
“In our sector, the US accounted for 30 percent of our exports … because of the tariffs by the US, now all exporters are forced to look at new markets (to) offset the losses from the US,” Kewal Krishan Duggal, director of policy at India’s Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council, told Arab News.
India’s annual gems and jewelry exports are worth about $28.5 billion, and constitute the country’s third-largest US export sector. The industry employs around five million workers.
This week, GJEPC India launched SAJEX 2025, a three-day jewelry exhibition held at the Jeddah Superdome, in an effort to connect jewelry exports from India and other countries with Saudi buyers.
