.jpeg)
India and the United States have strengthened their economic ties, with the U.S. becoming India's biggest trading partner in 2022-23, according to provisional data from India's Commerce Ministry. Bilateral trade between the two nations rose by 7.65% to $128.55 billion in 2022-23, compared to $119.5 billion in 2021-22. Experts predict that the trend of increasing bilateral trade will continue in the coming years, with New Delhi and Washington committed to strengthening economic ties.
India's exports to the U.S. rose by 2.81% to $78.31 billion in 2022-23, while imports grew by 16% to $50.24 billion. The U.S. is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus, with India having a trade surplus of $28 billion with the U.S. in 2022-23.
On the other hand, India's two-way commerce with China declined by about 1.5% to $113.83 billion in 2022-23 as against $115.42 billion in 2021-22. India's exports to China fell by about 28% to $15.32 billion in 2022-23, while imports rose by 4.16% to $98.51 billion. The trade gap between India and China widened to $83.2 billion in the last fiscal year, compared to $72.91 billion in 2021-22.
According to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the increasing exports of goods such as pharmaceuticals, engineering, gems, and jewelry are helping India push its shipments to America. FIEO President A. Sakthivel predicts that the trend of increasing trade with the U.S. will continue in the coming months as well.
FIEO Vice President Khalid Khan believes that India is emerging as a trusted trading partner, and global firms are reducing their dependence solely on China for their supplies and are diversifying their business into other countries like India. Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Director of the Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM), Bangalore, notes that India offers huge trade opportunities for the U.S. as India is the world's third-largest consumer market and the fastest-growing market economy.
Major export items from India to the U.S. include petroleum, polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewelry, light oils and petroleum, frozen shrimp, and made-ups, while major imports from the U.S. include petroleum, rough diamonds, liquified natural gas, gold, coal, waste and scrap, and almonds.
In 2022-23, the UAE was India's third-largest trading partner with $76.16 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia with $52.72 billion, and Singapore with $35.55 billion. The data showed that China was India's top trading partner from 2013-14 to 2017-18 and in 2020-21. Before China, the UAE was India's largest trading partner.
