India's Rush to Export Diamonds before Tariff Deadline

(IDEX Online) - Exporters in India are scrambling to get their diamonds into the US before the new 26 per cent tariff kicks in tomorrow (9 April).

Customs authorities in Mumbai reportedly cleared exports valued at $320m in the first four days of this month - five times higher than the same period last year.

Kirit Bhansali, chairman of India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) told The Economic Times: "If the US buyers get the cut and polished diamonds before April 9, they will be buying at a lower price, and will presumably sell them at a higher price in the US, adding 26 per cent reciprocal tariff that the Trump government has slapped on India."

The industry has been rushing to export as much as possible since President Donald Trump's bombshell announcement of reciprocal tariffs in his Liberation Day speech a week ago (1 April).

The US is the world's largest diamond market and accounts for around a third of India's $32bn-a-year gem and jewelry sector.