A worker plucks tea leaves in a plantation in Kerala.
| Photo Credit:
H.VIBHU
Tea exports from India to the US are likely to fall by 30-40 per cent in the 2025 calendar year (January-December) due to the 50 per cent tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration, experts at the India International Tea Convention in Kochi said on Friday.
India exported 16.5 million kg of tea valued at $92.1 million to the US in 2024. In 2025, up to July, exports from India totalled 9.6 million kg. Exports are likely to “contract by 30-40 per cent to total 10-12 million kg in 2025,” said Dan Bolton, founder of Tea Journey Magazine and Tea Biz. He was addressing a session on Tea and Global Market Dynamics.
Bolton said global trade was undergoing an upheaval with the post-war rule-based system, once anchored in multilateralism and World Trade Organization, now reshaped by transnationlism and mercantilism.
Supply-demand mismatch
James Suranga Perera, Executive Director, The International Tea Committee, emphasised the importance of improving the domestic consumption of tea in India. India is the second largest producer and consumer of tea in the world. Even a slight improvement in domestic consumption would go a long way in benefiting the industry, he pointed out. Indian tea production for 2025 is likely to be 1.2 billion kg, registering a slight improvement compared with the previous year.
Speakers addressing the session drew attention to the production and consumption mismatch in the global tea industry. Global production was higher than demand, with the surplus estimated to be over 100 million kg, said Perera.
India exported 256.2 million kg of tea in 2024, up by 10.6 per cent, compared with the previous year. The total value of exports was Rs 7,167.41 crore, up by 16.34 per cent, compared with 2023.
George Omuga, Managing Director, East African Tea Trade Association; Mohamed R Heiza, Director, MISR Vision for Solutions; Mohit Agarwal, Director, The Asian Tea Group; and Anil R Cooke, Asia Siyaka Commodities Ltd, addressed the session.
Published on September 19, 2025