New Delhi: China overtook the US as India’s top trading partner in FY24 with a total trade of $118.4 billion, though Indian commerce ministry officials have argued that over the last several years, trade with Washington and Beijing are usually in close margins and “positions keep changing”.
China clocked $118.41 billion in the financial year, closely followed by the US with $118.29 billion, according to data from the Indian commerce ministry.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, officials said the total merchandise for the US and China were always close to each other. “Sometimes China is up, sometimes the US is up. Long-term perspective is important and with overall trade, these are close margins. These positions keep changing,” they added.
They pointed out that monthly data reveal how close these close margins can be. “In April, (goods trade with China)…is $9.02 billion and with the US, it is $9.8 billion,” they said.
A look at past data shows that China was India’s largest goods trading partner for seven years, while the US held the top position in four.
In the past, China has disputed India’s claim that the US surpassed Beijing as its largest trading partner. In May 2022, the Chinese foreign ministry said that bilateral goods trade with India was far higher than figures released by India’s commerce ministry. A recent analysis by ThePrint found that India and China increasingly disagree on how much they trade with each other, and the gap is widening.
Rise in imports of Chinese electronics, iron & steel
According to data from the Indian commerce ministry, goods trade between India and China stood at $118.41 billion in 2023-24. Exports to China stood at $16.66 billion, showing an 8.7 percent growth year-on-year. Imports stood at $101.74 billion, at 3.3 percent growth.
Meanwhile, India’s exports to the US dropped 1.3 percent in FY24 and so did imports, by 19.8 percent, according to commerce ministry data.
The Indian commerce ministry is yet to provide country-wise and item-wise data on the imports and exports that saw positive growth in FY24. However, trade associations have some insights.
According to Ajay Sahai, Director General and CEO of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, there has been a 15 percent rise in electronics equipment as well as a 30 percent increase in iron and steel imports from China. “Imports of electronics equipment, mobile parts, laptops and lithium batteries have gone up. Machinery has seen a little increase and iron and steel imports have grown almost 30 percent,” he told ThePrint.
Looking at India’s total exports to the world in FY24, items that saw a considerable decline include petroleum products, gems and jewellery, readymade garments of all textiles, rice and other cereals. These items fell 13.67, 13.83, 10.5, 6.53 and 56.64 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Imports also fell from $655.05 billion to $620.19 billion. However, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, electronic goods, machine tools, machinery (electrical and non-electrical), pharma, gold, silver, pulses, fruits and vegetables, metalliferous ores and other minerals saw positive growth year-on-year.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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