Indian, US officials to hold discussions to expand bilateral trade ties: Commerce min

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Indian and US officials will hold discussions this week to expand and deepen bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner and enhance supply chain integration, the commerce ministry said on Monday.

To discuss trade-related issues with India, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, along with a team of US government officials, will be visiting India from March 25-29.

As directed by the leaders of the two countries, India remains committed to working with the US side in the trade and economic domains to enhance prosperity, and innovation and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries, it added.

"We look forward to productive and constructive discussions with the incoming US delegation to expand and deepen our bilateral trade and economic ties in a mutually beneficial manner," the ministry said.

The visit of the US team comes against the backdrop of President Donald Trump's plan to impose reciprocal tariffs on various countries, including India. He has on multiple forums stated that India imposes high tariffs on US goods.

In 2023-24, the US was the largest trading partner of India with USD 119.71 billion bilateral trade in goods (USD 77.51 billion worth of exports, USD 42.19 billion of imports, with USD 35.31 billion trade surplus).

In 2024, India's main exports to the US included drug formulations, biological (USD 8.1 billion), telecom instruments (USD 6.5 billion), precious and semi-precious stones (USD 5.3 billion), petroleum products (USD 4.1 billion), gold and other precious metal jewellery (USD 3.2 billion), ready-made garments of cotton, including accessories (USD 2.8 billion), and products of iron and steel (USD 2.7 billion).

Imports included crude oil (USD 4.5 billion), petroleum products (USD 3.6 billion), coal, coke (USD 3.4 billion), cut and polished diamonds (USD 2.6 billion), electric machinery (USD 1.4 billion), aircraft, space crafts and parts (USD 1.3 billion), and gold (USD 1.3 billion).