Trade imbalance persists, as US imports from India increased.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Trade between the US and India hit an all-time high of $63.704 billion over the course of 2013, evidence of the still-strong economic relationship between the two nations even though diplomatic relations have been damaged somewhat over the last couple of months.
The record-setting year saw $21.875 billion worth of goods going into India from the US, while $41.829 billion went from India into the US. The balance ends up being just under $20 billion in India’s favor, an increase from the $18.4 billion differential of 2012.
The previous year’s total trade between the US and India was $62.619 billion, so while the 2013 numbers don’t represent an astronomical increase – just 1.73% — it is enough to set a new standard for the commercial relationship between the two powerhouse democracies.
The US saw the most imports from India during the months of April and May, during which it imported $4.075 billion and $4.201 billion, respectively. On the flip side, India imported its most from the US during June and August — $2.396 billion during the former and $2.067 billion during the latter.
The content of the commerce between the US and India continues to be largely precious stones, metals, and textiles. According to the Indian Embassy, such products constituted around 40% of imports the US received from India in the first quarter of 2013. The remainder of goods falls under several different categories: pharmaceutical products, organic materials, iron/steel products, machinery parts (electrical and otherwise), mineral fuels and oils.
India was the 11th largest trading partner for the US, accounting for 1.7% of America’s total international trade amount. To put that number in perspective, Canada came in at number one and accounted for 16.4% of US trade, China was #2 with 14.6%, and Mexico #3 with 13.2%. After that, all trade partner percentages fall into the low single digits — #4, Japan, accounted for 5.3% of total US trade, and Germany came in at #5 with 4.2%.
The top 15 trade partners with the US in 2013 were, in order, are: Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, the UK, France, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy. Altogether, these nations comprised roughly 72.5% of US trade last year.