Trade data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday showed that India's goods exports rose by a sharp 18% in May 2026 to $45.2 billion, up from $38.3 billion in May 2025, marking a six-month high. A steep decline of over 10% in the rupee over the past 12 months and a partial recovery in exports to the West Asia region supported the gains. Imports also jumped 20.62% to $73.41 billion, widening the trade deficit to $28.21 billion from $22.56 billion a year earlier. A notable feature was the 54.43% surge in imports from the United States to $5.87 billion, as India stepped up energy imports amid the war in West Asia. However, exports to the US, India's largest market, grew by less than 1%. Among commodities, electronic goods exports rose 11.62% to $5.09 billion and petroleum products climbed 54.89% to $8.42 billion, while tea, tobacco, spices, cashew, marine products, leather and textiles saw negative growth. Oil imports in May rose 53.8% to $22.67 billion as crude prices hovered around $100 per barrel. Gold imports in the first two months of the fiscal year surged 60% to $9.04 billion. Engineering shipments stood at $12.31 billion in May, up 24.48% over $9.89 billion a year earlier. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said exports to West Asia in May had almost reached last year's level despite regional disruptions, and that many trade problems would ease if the US-Iran peace deal holds.