India to import more precious metals from US

16-02-2026 Mon 19:36 | National
Advertisement
New Delhi, Feb 16 : While India has diversified its energy basket and started sourcing more oil and gas from the US, it is also diversifying its import basket for precious metals from the UAE so that it can purchase more gold and silver from the US market instead, a senior official said.

This will help to bring down prices and also the trade surplus with the US.

The United States is a major global hub for trading these precious metals. It exports significant amounts of gold (including waste/scrap) and silver, with recent data highlighting billions of dollars in trade, particularly to markets like Canada, India, and the UK. Exports consist of raw, refined, and jewellery forms.

India exports agri-products worth $2.8 billion to the US and imports worth $1.5 billion. As a result, India's non-marine agricultural exports to the US are currently $1.3 billion in surplus.

The official said that any agri products that come into India will have to meet biosecurity concerns, and GM foods are not allowed into the country. Any imports of select agri-products from the US are also subject to Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), the official added.

The India-US interim trade agreement is poised to act as a significant catalyst for India's data centre industry, driven by increased access to advanced technology, investment, and reduced operational costs.

The trade pact addresses high import duties (formerly 20–28 per cent) on enterprise GPU servers, which made setting up data centres in India much more expensive than in hubs like Singapore. Duty rationalisation is expected to reduce the cost of establishing GPU-ready data centres by approximately 14 per cent.

The finalisation of the interim India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement delivers comprehensive tariff rationalisation, zero-duty access across large product categories, enhanced digital and technology cooperation, and a carefully calibrated framework to safeguard India’s farmers, MSMEs and domestic industry, according to an official statement.

With India’s total exports to the United States standing at $86.35 billion in 2024, the agreement significantly enhances competitive access across key sectors, including textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, agriculture, machinery, home décor, pharmaceuticals, and technology-driven industries.

Under the agreement, tariffs on $30.94 billion worth of these exports have been reduced from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, while tariffs on another $10.03 billion have been reduced from 50 per cent to zero. This means a substantial share of Indian goods entering the U.S. market will now face either sharply lower tariffs or completely duty-free access, significantly improving price competitiveness.

Advertisement
India-US tradeIndia importsUS exportsprecious metalsgold importssilver importstrade agreementtariff reductiondata centersagri-products

More News

Best air quality recorded in a decade on Oct 24: Delhi Environment Minister

24-10-2026 Sat 22:15

One good over and pressure shifts to the bowler, says Reddy on match-winning stand with Tilak

24-10-2026 Sat 19:58

CM Chandrababu Naidu accuses YSRCP chief Jagan of 'damaging' Andhra's brand image

24-10-2026 Sat 19:35

2nd T20I: 'Whole India believes in you', Tilak reveals Gambhir, Kotak's advice after stellar chase

24-10-2026 Sat 19:30

Badminton: Sindhu storms into final of French Open 2026, will meet An Se Young

24-10-2026 Sat 19:24

India’s intentions not right, Pakistan saving Kashmiris: Farooq Abdullah

24-10-2026 Sat 17:48

Arshdeep Singh surpasses Bhuvneshwar to complete most wickets for India in calendar year

24-10-2026 Sat 17:41

Janhvi Kapoor admits she gained weight after Karan Johar stopped talking to her

24-10-2026 Sat 17:37

2nd T20I: Tilak comes clutch, Nitish puts hand as India beat NZ to take 2-0 lead

24-10-2026 Sat 17:33

YSRCP's Ambati Rambabu alleges SEC reduced to Andhra CM Naidu's 'puppet'

24-10-2026 Sat 16:00

India condemns heinous church attack in Jordan, reaffirms strong commitment to fight against terrorism

24-10-2026 Sat 15:53

Man management will be at the heart of my coaching at MI, says new head coach Pollard

24-10-2026 Sat 15:38

MP FDA flags Patanjali’s cow ghee batch as unsafe, orders recall

24-10-2026 Sat 15:27

Class 12 student dies after setting herself on fire at Delhi school; police probe on

24-10-2026 Sat 15:14

2nd T20I: Tilak Varma completes most catches as fielder in a calendar year

24-10-2026 Sat 14:58

2nd T20I: Phillips and Jacobs' fifties lead New Zealand to 180/5 against India in Christchurch

24-10-2026 Sat 14:37

Rajinikanth watches film with fans for the first time in 40 years; silently slips in to catch 'Jailer 2'

24-10-2026 Sat 14:25

Cong gets into poll mode for Assembly elections in five states

24-10-2026 Sat 14:22

KL Rahul, Jaiswal fail as New Zealand A rout India A on opening day

24-10-2026 Sat 13:28

Gold, silver decline sharply on weekly basis as crude prices rise

24-10-2026 Sat 12:55
..more