Trump Wrongly Quotes Trade Deficit Data with India
US President Donald Trump with PM Narendra Modi Image credit MEA
Modi-Trump Meeting: Trump Accuses India of ‘Excessive High Tariff Barrier’
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 14: Did US President wrongly quote the trade deficit data with India? The data of the Office of the US Trade Representative states that the trade deficit for the US had actually been $45.7 billion in 2024.
Trump in the joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the trade deficit was almost $100 billion. “India has one of highest tariffs against the US. It becomes almost impossible for the American made cars to sell in India. There are too high tariff barriers in trade with India,” Trump said in the presence of Modi.
Trump signed an Executive Order, hours ahead of his bilateral meeting with Modi. The two leaders issued a joint statement after the four-hour-long bilateral meeting.
Modi at the press conference that India and the US have set an ambitious target to double the trade. By 2030, India and the US have set target of $500 billion in trade.
But the data of the Office of the US Trade Representative stated that the total bilateral trade in goods with India totalled $129.2 billion in 2024. This showed a marginal increase from 2023.
“U.S. total goods trade with India were an estimated $129.2 billion in 2024. U.S. goods exports to India in 2024 were $41.8 billion, up 3.4 percent ($1.4 billion) from 2023,” said a report by the Office of the US Trade Representative
It stated that the “U.S. goods imports from India totalled $87.4 billion in 2024, up 4.5 percent ($3.7 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with India was $45.7 billion in 2024, a 5.4 percent increase ($2.4 billion) over 2023”.
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The US is India’s largest trading partner. “India’s largest trading partner is the US, and it is also one of the few countries with which India had a trade surplus in 2023-24,” said India Brand Equity Foundation in a report.
It stated that “India’s major exports to the US include engineering goods, electronic goods, gems and jewellery, pharmaceutical products, light crude oil and petroleum, electrical, and others”.
India’s imports from the US include mineral fuels and oils, valued at $12.9 billion). “India’s imports from the US also include pearls, precious, and semi-precious stones ($5.16 billion), nuclear reactors boilers and machinery ($ 3.75 billion), electrical machinery etc. ($2.38 billion) in FY24,” added IBEF in a report.
The Ministry of Commerce in a statement said that India’s total exports (goods and services) during April-September in 2024 was estimated at $393.22 billion. Total imports during April-September in 2024 was estimated at $448.05 billion. India overall had trade deficit for the quarter.
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