Eco integration with US growing despite prez changes: Government

NEW DELHI: Government on Thursday said trade with the US has sustained despite the change of presidency and argued that the trade deficit is not significant if goods and services are factored in.
Between 2001 and 2023, India’s goods exports to the US rose at 10.5% CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate), while imports went up 4.8%.
“Our (India-US) integration is growing and we are getting bipartisan support. Whatever is the regime (in the US), we are finding that our economic integration with the US is increasing over the period of time… and that is a good thing for us and I trust that it will continue (to grow),” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters days after Donald Trump won the US presidential elections.
Trump is widely seen to be restricting imports, especially from China, and has also flagged his concerns over high import duty in India. During his first term in White House, he had imposed high tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium, and also withdrew the preferential trade scheme, prompting New Delhi to raise duties on almond and pistachios. Barthwal said the data is showing not only the resiliency but also better integration with the US value chains and “this is a very positive factor which is across all presidencies”.
The US was the largest trading partner of India in 2023-24. India’s exports to the US stood at $77.5 billion, while imports aggregated at $42.2 billion in the last fiscal. Additional secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agrawal said that in the services area also, India’s exports and imports have registered healthy growth with the US.