UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Goods exports surge 20% as trade diversified
Q1. Which one of the following commodity groups accounted for the largest share by value of India's merchandise exports in July 2026?
- A. Petroleum products, whose shipments grew by about 68 per cent over the year-earlier month
- B. Engineering goods, whose shipments grew by about 18 per cent over the year-earlier month
- C. Electronic goods, whose shipments grew by about 57 per cent over the year-earlier month
- D. Marine products, whose shipments grew in step with the overall export basket
Q2. The figure of $31.98 billion reported for India in July 2026 as the 'trade deficit' precisely denotes which one of the following?
- A. The excess of merchandise imports over merchandise exports in that month, services trade being excluded from the computation
- B. The excess of combined goods-and-services imports over combined goods-and-services exports in that month, computed on a customs basis
- C. The excess of India's current account debits over its current account credits, computed for the quarter and expressed as a monthly average
- D. The shortfall of the month's actual exports against the monthly export target set by the Department of Commerce for the fiscal year
Q3. With reference to the ports to which India-bound and West Asia-bound container traffic was rerouted after congestion at Jebel Ali, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. Fujairah and Khor Fakkan lie in the United Arab Emirates and are approachable from the Gulf of Oman without transiting the Strait of Hormuz
- B. Fujairah and Khor Fakkan lie in Oman and are approachable only after transiting the Strait of Hormuz northward into the Persian Gulf
- C. Duqm, Sohar and Salalah lie in the United Arab Emirates and together handle more container traffic than Jebel Ali does in a normal year
- D. Khor Fakkan lies in the emirate of Sharjah but can be reached only through the Strait of Hormuz, which is why its traffic fell during the conflict
Q4. Consider the following ports used or considered by Indian exporters for West Asia-bound cargo during the recent disruption:
1. Duqm
2. Salalah
3. Khor Fakkan
4. Sohar
Which of the above are correctly identified as ports located in Oman?
- Duqm
- Salalah
- Khor Fakkan
- Sohar
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 1, 2 and 4
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q5. As of 2025, which one of the following statements about the standing of the Strait of Hormuz among the world's maritime chokepoints is correct?
- A. It was the busiest oil shipping chokepoint in the world, carrying the entire seaborne crude exports of every Persian Gulf producer
- B. It was the second-busiest oil shipping chokepoint in the world, exceeded only by the Strait of Malacca
- C. It was the second-busiest oil shipping chokepoint in the world, exceeded only by the Suez Canal and its associated Red Sea route
- D. It was the only chokepoint in the world through which all liquefied natural gas cargoes bound for Asian markets necessarily passed
Q6. The lowering of the effective US tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent in 2026 was given effect under which one of the following instruments?
- A. A bilateral India–US trade deal finalised in February 2026, operative once the two sides issued a joint statement
- B. A dispute settlement ruling of the World Trade Organization delivered against the earlier US reciprocal tariff schedule
- C. A restoration of India's beneficiary status under the US Generalized System of Preferences notified during 2026
- D. A tariff chapter of the India–US Bilateral Investment Treaty brought into force through an exchange of notes
Q7. Following the India–US trade arrangement of February 2026, which one of the following countries faced the highest US tariff rate on its goods, and at what level?
- A. Vietnam, which faced a tariff of 34 per cent on its goods entering the United States
- B. China, which faced a tariff of 34 per cent on its goods entering the United States
- C. Indonesia, which faced a tariff of 20 per cent on its goods entering the United States
- D. Bangladesh, which faced a tariff of 19 per cent on its goods entering the United States
Q8. Consider the following statements regarding India's merchandise exports to the West Asian region in 2026:
1. Exports in April 2026 fell to about $4.16 billion, against about $5.78 billion in April 2025.
2. Exports in May 2026 were marginally lower than a year earlier, at about $5.30 billion against about $5.38 billion.
3. Exports in June 2026 grew by about 7.3 per cent year-on-year to about $5 billion.
4. Exports in July 2026 crossed $10 billion, the entire contraction of the preceding months being fully recouped within that single month.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- Exports in April 2026 fell to about $4.16 billion, against about $5.78 billion in April 2025.
- Exports in May 2026 were marginally lower than a year earlier, at about $5.30 billion against about $5.38 billion.
- Exports in June 2026 grew by about 7.3 per cent year-on-year to about $5 billion.
- Exports in July 2026 crossed $10 billion, the entire contraction of the preceding months being fully recouped within that single month.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 1 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q9. The commodity-wise and destination-wise statistics of India's merchandise exports and imports are officially compiled and disseminated by which one of the following bodies?
- A. The National Statistical Office, functioning under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- B. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade, functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- C. The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, headquartered at Kolkata
- D. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, functioning under the Department of Revenue
Q10. Which one of the following statements correctly describes the compilation of India's current account and balance of payments data?
- A. They are compiled and released by the Reserve Bank of India on a quarterly basis, drawing on customs merchandise trade data among other sources
- B. They are compiled and released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics monthly, covering both merchandise and invisibles
- C. They are compiled and released by the National Statistical Office on a quarterly basis, alongside the quarterly estimates of gross domestic product
- D. They are compiled and released by the Department of Economic Affairs annually, as a statutory annexure to the Economic Survey
Q11. When Asia–Europe shipping bypasses the Suez Canal and routes around the Cape of Good Hope, by approximately how many days is a voyage lengthened?
- A. 3 to 5 days
- B. 10 to 14 days
- C. 20 to 25 days
- D. 30 to 35 days