American trade deficit with India widened in October despite an increase in exports.
By Sreekanth A Nair
The US trade deficit with India widened in October despite a marginal increase in export and a $217 million decrease in imports, new data released by the Department of Commerce reveals.
The United States imported from India goods worth nearly $3.9 billion in October, up from nearly $3.7 billion in September. The US exports to India stood at $1.86 billion in October — an increase of nearly $130 million.
The American exports to India in September and October last year stood at $ 1.922 billion and $2.036 billion respectively.
In the first 10 months on 2015, the United State exported goods worth more than $18.4 billion to India, while it imported from India goods worth more than twice that amount ($38.45 billion).
The trade deficit with India through October declined by almost a billion compared to last year’s figures. In the first 10 months of 2014, the US trade deficit with India was nearly $21 billion.
Overall, the US-India bilateral trade was up by a billion dollar through October, compared to October 2014.
Last year, the two countries traded in goods worth nearly $67 billion, with the US posting a deficit of $23.6 billion.
The Commerce Department figures, released on Friday, also showed the US trade deficit widened in the month of October as the overall export of American goods reached four year’s low, which is seen as a reflection of the weak global economy and continuing reign of the dollar over other currencies.
The gap between US exports and imports widened 3.4 percent in October compared to a revised $42.5 billion in September.
Exports in October decreased to $184.1 billion from $186.8 billion in September, whereas the imports decreased to $228 billion in October from $229.2 billion in September.
The decrease in import is attributed to the falling price of oil, which has inadvertently pushed down the import of petroleum products that reached 15 years low in 2015.
The politically sensitive US-China trade deficit fell 9.1 per cent to $33 billion, while the deficit with Mexico rose 10.2 percent to $33 billion, America’s biggest deficit with its southern neighbor in more than three years.