Spices exports to the US stood at $624.35 million in value during 2025-26, against $711.16 million a year ago, on reduced volumes and the tariff issue hurting the shipments

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Despite the tariffs, the United States overtook China as the largest buyer of Indian spices during the 2025-26 financial year, after the neighbouring buyer sharply reduced its purchase of spices such as chilli and cumin during the year. China has traditionally been the largest buyer of Indian spices for several years now.Overall Indian spices exports declined by 6.1 per cent in value to $4,430 million during 2025-26 against $4,722 million in 2024-25.Spices exports to the US stood at $624.35 million in value during 2025-26, against $711.16 million a year ago, on reduced volumes and the tariff issue hurting the shipments. The US has been the largest buyer of Indian pepper, turmeric and spice oleoresins. Pepper and turmeric exports to the US registered an increase, while spice oleoresins saw a decline during the year. Though China still accounted for the largest volumes of Indian spice exports, in value terms the US emerged as the largest buyer during the year.32% drop in shipmentsSpices exports to China reduced from $769.58 million during 2024-25 to $518.98 million during 2025-26, a decline of 32 per cent. From a record $928.28 million with volumes of 3.09 lakh tonnes during 2023-24, exports have slowed down sharply as it reduced its purchase volumes of key spices such as chilli and cumin due to increasing domestic production, trade sources said.The US emerged as the largest buyer because of the reduced demand for chillies from China, which has started to grow heat-chillies, said Emmanuel Nambusseril, Chairman, All India Spices Exporters Forum.During 2025-26, India’s cumin exports to China saw a sharp reduction of 76 per cent in volumes and 80 per cent in value on higher domestic production in the neighbouring country. Similarly, chilli exports also reduced by 21 per cent in value and 11 per cent in volumes.“Last year, China had a very good crop of around 85,000-90,000 tonnes, and hence they avoided buying from India,” Yogesh Mehta of SpicExim had said recently. According to the trade, China is likely to harvest a bigger crop during 2026 due to favourable weather and better farming techniques.Published on June 29, 2026