According to the latest data released by the United States Census Bureau, the Indian goods bilateral trade with the US was worth $113.391 billion in 2021. The nation exported goods worth more than $73 billion and the imported goods from the United States was worth a little less than $40 billion last year.
The economic relationship between India and the United States of America continues to deepen. Bilateral trade between the two nations had crossed the $100 billion mark in the year 2021, which made last year the largest trade of goods in one calendar year in the United States-India’s trade history. These figures are also 45 per cent higher than the previous year’s data. The trade of the United States seems to have increased with its top 15 partners but the biggest jump in the volume of goods trades was with India.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic that took over the world in 2020, and because of the subsequent economic restrictions, the trade with the US was worth $78.2 billion which was lower than the trade-in 2019 which was worth $92.1 billion. At that time the exports from India were worth $57.8 billion and the imported goods from the US were worth $34.2 billion.
As per Richard M Rossow, the Wadhwani Chair in the India-US Policy studies at the CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies) and one of the foremost experts of the bilateral economic relationship of both countries, the bilateral trade has been seeing an upward trend since the last 20 years and the economic trade between India and US has only shrunk thrice since 2002. He said that while it was a matter worth celebrating that the trade had crossed the $100 billion mark, this was not far off the overall trajectory of the trade relationships in this period. He cited the trough in the year 2020 as the reason for the 45 per cent jump as both the countries had dealt with the initial onslaught of the COVID-19.
President and Chief Executive Officer of the India-US Strategic Partnership Forum, Mukesh Aghi said that one of the key reasons for the increase in the Indian exports to the United States was the concerted rise of demand in the US market. He said that the United States had seen a consumption-driven growth in the past year. This export from India was due to the pent-up demand for items including jewellery and electronics that was channelled in the past 6 months. Another reason cited by Aghi was the fact that the United States companies have been seeking to diversify their supply chains.
Principal goods that have been exported to the US are precious and semi-precious stones, pharmaceuticals, drugs, petroleum products, garments, cotton fabrics, marine products, electrical equipment, iron and steel products, and auto components. The primary import from the United States was crude oil, pearls, chemicals, coal, gold, paper and precious stones.