The US is looking to boost trade with India as part of ‘friendshoring’ efforts

The United States is India’s largest trading partner, with trade between the two nations currently around US$191 billion in 2022. With the two forging a closer relationship, here’s a look at the prospects for boosting U.S.-India trade. Voice of America reports. While defense deals between the U.S. and India took center stage during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last week, on the sidelines, they also spoke about bilateral trade. Atul Keshap U.S. India Business Council I’ve talked repeatedly about the need for both governments to be impatient about setting a goal of $500 billion in trade and investment between the United States and India. The U.S. Commerce Department says trade with China reached more than US$690 billion in 2022, but with a China favoring deficit of US$383 billion. U.S. Representative Ro Khanna from California says bilateral trade with India offers the U.S. a chance to have a more balanced relationship than the one with China. Ro Khanna US lawmaker India, with some of the agreements, is going to be buying things from a number of our defense contractors or defense companies. So, they’re helping to create jobs here in the United States, and that is where we need to learn from the mistake made with China, which was an unreciprocal trade agreement. The U.S. is encouraging businesses away from China and promoting what’s called “friendshoring,” or doing more business with countries that are political and economic allies, like India. During Modi’s Washington visit, India agreed to lift retaliatory tariffs placed on U.S. aluminum and steel imports, but the U.S. kept in place its tariffs on Indian aluminum and steel, which surprised some analysts, like Inu Manak, from the Council on Foreign Relations. Inu Manak Council on Foreign Relations India got a pretty raw deal and it’s quite surprising the Biden administration did not do anything to remove these tariffs as a signal of support for its growing relationship with India. Manak also says India needs to cut regulations to create a more welcoming environment for U.S. investment. Inu Manak Council on Foreign Relations India has had many long-standing restrictions on foreign direct investment. They have restrictions on foreign ownership. In the future the goal is to expand business relationships as the U.S. continues to expand its military relationship with the world’s largest democracy.