The U.S.-India Trade Relationship

In 2023, the commodity trade relationship between the United States and India focused on precious metals, fuels and electrical machinery, according to UN Comtrade data. 35 percent of Indian exports to the U.S. and 41 percent of India's U.S. imports fell in these categories. Even with China becoming the most important trade partner for the South Asian country in the past year, India only exhibits a trade surplus with the United States out of its top trading partners.

27 percent or $11 billion of the total U.S. exports to India were from the mineral fuels segment, chief among them crude oil, anthracite coal and natural gas in terms of commodity value. Looking at imports from India by the United States, crude oil plays a major role, coming in second overall with $6.4 billion. Other relevant goods exported by India include pharmaceutical products for therapeutical use ($7.2 billion), crustaceans ($1.8 billion) and insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and disinfectants ($929 million).

The trade relationship between India and the United States came into closer focus recently, with Reuters reporting suggesting that the two countries are likely to sign a cooperation agreement on the topic of critical minerals like lithium "which intends to enhance bilateral collaboration to increase and diversify essential critical mineral supply chains and leverage their complementary strengths". Since President Joe Biden took office, India and the U.S. intensified trade. The value of bilateral goods trade increased by 45 percent from 2020 to 2021 despite macroeconomic pressure due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.