US Beats China Again To Remain India’s Top Trading Partner Second Year In A Row

The United States of America has retained its spot as India’s top trading partner for the second year in a row as per data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday (15 April).

According to the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the bilateral trade between India and the US has increased 7.65 per cent to $128.55 billion in FY2022-23, up from $119.42 billion in FY2021-22. The figure stood at $80.51 billion a year before that in FY2020-21.

Notably, the US is one of the few countries with which India enjoys a trade surplus, i.e., it exports more to the US than it imports. India’s exports to the US stood at $78.30 billion, while it imported $50.24 billion — a trade surplus of $28.06 billion.

Major export items from India to the US include petroleum products, polished diamonds, pharmaceutical products, jewellery, and frozen shrimp, while major import items include petroleum, rough diamonds, LNG, gold, coal, etc.

The US displaced China as India’s top trading partner in 2022, with the trade volume with China at $115.42 billion lagging behind the US for the first time in history. China remained India’s top trading partner from 2013-14 to 2017-18 and also in 2020-21.

The two-way trade with China declined in FY2022-23 by about 1.5 per cent to $113.83 billion. However, the drop in trade volume came largely from a massive decrease in India’s exports to China. While India’s exports to China fell by 28 per cent to $15.32 billion last year, imports rose by 4.16 per cent to $98.51 billion.

India has historically had a significant trade deficit with China, which widened to $83.2 billion last year, up from $72.91 billion the year before that. However, China’s share in India’s total imports has declined to 13.79 per cent in FY2022-23 from 15.43 per cent in FY2021-22.

Meanwhile, India’s overall exports touched record highs last fiscal year, touching $770.18 billion in FY 2022-23, with exports of merchandise and services at $323 billion and $447 billion respectively.

The news comes amidst adverse global headwinds, supply chain disruptions, and a slowdown in the global economy.

However, India’s exports to the US are only expected to increase in the coming years, with both countries wanting to build deeper economic ties and reduce the dependence of their economies on an increasingly adversarial China.