India’s merchandise exports rebounded sharply in August 2026, jumping 26.1% year-on-year to reach $43.81 billion, driven by strong demand across engineering goods, petroleum products, chemicals, and textiles. Concurrently, the monthly trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low of $26.86 billion as total imports eased to $70.67 billion, primarily aided by gold imports nearly cutting in half to $2.3 billion. The United States remained India’s primary export buyer, taking in $42.79 billion worth of goods between April and August. To safeguard ongoing trade momentum against environmental barriers, India’s Commerce Ministry formed a specialized Committee on Export Preparedness to prepare domestic exporters for the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which requires formal emission reporting returns by September 2027. India is actively seeking EU recognition for the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) to allow domestic verifiers to validate steel and aluminium emission data locally, mirroring a similar recognition framework already established with the UK.