STATSGURU: Decoding Indias trade link with the US

INDIAS ECONOMIC relationship with the United States is going through a rocky patch. As Table 1 reveals, foreign direct investment from the US has fallen sharply in the past few years. However, as Table 2 shows, the share of exports to the US in Indias total exports has picked up, after a dip during the financial crisis, to stand at over 12 per cent at present. The share of Indias imports from that country in its total imports has fallen slightly from the 2008-09 level but has responded less to recent events than exports, according to Table 3. So, Indias total trade with the US as a proportion of its overall trade has risen over the past two years, as Table 4 shows, but not reached the pre-crisis level yet. India mainly exports jewellery and textiles to the US, as Table 5 shows, though pharmaceuticals and chemicals the latter difficult to produce in the US, with stringent environmental laws have increased their share lately. In value terms, much that is being imported, too, are metals and stones some of those gold, for financial reasons, and the rest input for jewellery trade. The remainder is dominated by manufactured machinery, as Table 6 shows. Immigration is also a flashpoint. Table 7 reveals the proportion of Indian immigrants in the US among all immigrants in that country has steadily increased every decade but is still small, given Indias size. Indiaborn workers, however, are concentrated in professions different from other immigrants, as Table 8 shows management and IT in particular, whereas other immigrants are often in service industries or personal care.

1: CASH FLOW HAS EBBED

FDI inflows to India from the US
($ mn)

2: MORE GOODS ARE GOING TO THE US...

The US share in Indias total exports

(%)

Source: Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion

Source: Department of Commerce

3: ... THAN THOSE BEING RECEIVED FROM THERE...

The US share in Indias total imports

(%)

4: ... BUT OVERALL TRADE IS ON A STRONG FOOTING

The US share in Indias total trade

(%)

5: JEWELLERY AMONG INDIAS KEY EXPORTS TO THE US...

Major items as % of Indias total exports to the US*
(%)

Textiles
Source: Department of Commerce Source: Department of Commerce

Precious stones Pharmaceutical Mineral fuel, & metals products oil

Organic chemicals

*These do not add up to 100% as these are only a few items

According to trade during the JanApr 2013 period

6: ...RELATED PRODUCTS MAJOR IMPORT ITEMS, TOO

Major items as % of Indias total imports to the US
(%)

7: INDIANS A HUGE CHUNK OF THE US IMMIGRANTS...

Share of India-born immigrants in all of the US immigrants, 1960-2011
(%)

8: ... AND MAINLY EMPLOYED IN IT & SERVICES SECTORS

The US civilian labour force
(% of total)

Precious stones & metals

Machinery

Electrical Optical instruments Mineral fuel, machinery & equipment oil etc
According to trade during the JanApr 2013 period Source: US Census Bureaus 1960-2000 Decennial Censuses, 2010 and 2011 American Community Survey

Management, Information Other Education, training, Doctors & business, technology sciences & media & healthcare finance engineering entertainment personnel
Source: Authors analysis of the US Census Bureaus 2011 ACS

Service & personal care

Sales

*These do not add up to 100% as these are only a few items

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/print.cfm?ID=962

StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines

Compiled by BS Research Bureau