Gap between imports, exports narrows in a month.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The trade deficit between the US and India dropped significantly in the month of May, according to numbers released on Wednesday by the US Census Bureau.
US imports from India during May were valued at about $4.102 billion, while exports going to India totaled $1.737 billion. That makes for a differential of $2.365 billion for the month, a sharp decrease from the $3.057 billion that April ended with – nearly 23%, to be exact.
May’s numbers come on the heels of a record-setting month that preceded it. April 2014 turned out to have the most imports to the US from India in the history of the two countries’ relationship, with $4.458 billion. Coupled with the $.1401 billion in goods flowing from the US to India, the total amount of commerce in April was $5.589 billion.
May’s total amount of trade, however beats it, with $5.839 billion when adding imports and exports. That’s an increase of just over 4%, and combined with a decrease in the deficit between the two countries – the gap between imports from India and exports to India – the May numbers bear good news for the US-India bilateral relationship moving forward.
In total, imports from India stand at $19.161 billion from January through May of this year, with exports totaling $7.801.5 billion over the same span of time. That means the differential between the two countries is currently $11.359 billion – slightly higher than usual for this time of year, but that could very well even out as the year progresses.
Total international trade deficit for the US also went down, from $47 billion in April to $44.4 billion in May. Exports increased as well, going from $193.5 billion in April to $195.5 billion in May. Imports, therefore, decreased, registering $239.8 billion in May after standing at $240.5 billion in April.