Regardless of rising US tariffs on Indian dairy imports, demand among the many Indian diaspora stays resilient, says Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Advertising Federation (GCMMF), the maker of Amul. Talking at BT India@100 in Delhi on Friday, Mehta emphasised that these duties haven’t dampened abroad urge for food for iconic Indian merchandise like ghee, underscoring Amul’s deal with exporting value-driven, protein-rich dairy objects amid rising international dietary consciousness.
“Protein is a world foreign money,” Mehta acknowledged, highlighting Amul’s technique to faucet into worldwide markets with premium, high-protein choices. “We’re taking a look at exporting such value-oriented protein merchandise.”
The US just lately escalated commerce tensions by imposing an extra 25% tariff on choose Indian imports, doubling the overall responsibility on some merchandise to 50%. This transfer notably targets India’s ongoing Russian crude oil imports however has ripple results on different sectors, together with dairy.
Mehta dismissed the label of India being a “tariff king” in response to issues over these commerce obstacles. “A kilo of ghee earlier than August 1 was taxed at 50% within the US, and shrikhand confronted a 75% responsibility,” he famous. “Even the US imposes 40-50% duties by itself dairy merchandise.”
For the Indian diaspora, who’ve historically borne steep import duties, these tariffs are usually not a deterrent. “They had been paying 50% responsibility to purchase Indian ghee, and people who need it received’t be fearful in regards to the tariffs,” Mehta defined.
Amul exports to roughly 35 nations, together with the US, providing 19 merchandise starting from cheese, butter, paneer, and ghee to ice cream, sweets, Amulya, conventional sweets, shrikhand, lassi, basundi, buttermilk, and extra.
In 2024, the US exported 54 lakh tonnes of its six principal dairy commodities — milk powder, butter, lactose, casein, and whey protein. Almost half of those exports had been destined for India’s neighbouring areas, together with South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, the Center East, North Africa, and even dairy producers like Australia and New Zealand.
Mehta has beforehand identified that tariffs of 60-70% already burden Indian dairy exports to the US, and the latest hike might make these exports economically unviable. He acknowledged that prime duties inevitably result in elevated client costs.
“Worth, not quantity, will drive our export progress,” Mehta concluded, signalling Amul’s deal with premium, protein-rich merchandise that may stand up to tariff-related worth pressures whereas assembly rising international demand.
