FX.co ★ US becomes India’s largest trading partner

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India, the US became the country’s top trading partner in 2021-2022. The Western partner surpassed China in trading volumes. The Ministry reported that the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at $119.42 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year as against $80.51 billion in 2020-21. Meanwhile, India's two-way commerce with China aggregated at $115.42 billion as compared to $86.4 billion in 2020-21, the data showed. Over the past two years, Indian exports to the US have climbed to $76.11 billion compared with $51.62 billion in the previous fiscal year. At the same time, Indian imports rose to $43.31 billion from $29 billion reported in 2020-2021. Exports to China slightly increased to $21.25 billion last fiscal year from $21.18 billion in 2020-21, while imports jumped to $94.16 billion from about $65.21 billion in 2020-21. Leading trade experts note that the trend of increasing bilateral trade with the US is likely to continue in the coming years because New Delhi and Washington are engaged in further strengthening the economic ties. Indian exports to the US include pharmaceutical products, jewelry, petroleum products, as well as a number of food products, for example, frozen shrimp, manufactured goods, etc. As for commodities imported from the US, the leading ones are oil, rough diamonds, liquefied natural gas (LNG), gold, and coal. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry also informed that the UAE with $72.9 billion was the third-largest trading partner of India in 2021-22. It was followed by Saudi Arabia ($42,85 billion), Iraq ($34.33 billion), and Singapore ($30 billion).