India Eyes Russia, Brazil, Netherlands to Boost Pharma Exports Amid US Tariff Concerns

• India targets Russia, Brazil, and Netherlands for pharma export growth.
• U.S. remains key market with $10.5B in generic drug exports in 2025.
• 20% export increase possible; UK trade deal to boost generics supply.

India is looking to increase pharmaceutical exports to Russia, Brazil, and the Netherlands to diversify its market portfolio away from the U.S., its largest market, because of the threat of U.S tariffs, according to two sources in the industry.

Currently, India’s pharmaceutical sector is exempt from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs (which could be as high as 50%), but uncertainty remains and there is a move to diversify strategically. The U.S represents over a third of India’s pharma exports and there was $10.5 billion of sales of generic drugs in the fiscal 2025, a 20% increase.The sources, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, indicated that there is a potential to see ~20% growth in exports to newer markets, utilizing current manufacturing capacity.

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The revised statistics show that the United Kingdom is India's second largest market with $914 million in sales, trailing Brazil ($778 million), Netherlands ($616 million) and Russia ($577 million) in fiscal 2025, but these markets aren't replacing U.S. dollars. the trade goals is to expand market share and decrease reliance on a singular market.

India plans to overcome regulatory challenges in these countries at the forthcoming International Pharmaceutical Exhibition to be held in New Delhi with global players in the industry. It expects the free trade agreement with the UK to see a significant increase in exports of generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients in the National Health Service. The sources made clear that export growth requires time to go through the regulatory challenges. But the plan is to focus on and strengthen risk diversification strategy over time for global resilience.