Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated Tuesday that the Bilateral Commerce Settlement (BTA) talks with the US are targeted on the alternate of “proper details” and the “true image” of commerce between the 2 international locations. This comes as US President Donald Trump has persistently sought to pressurise commerce companions, accusing them of “ripping the US off” on items commerce, however overlooking the benefits that America enjoys within the companies sector.
“After we interact with the US group, all of the details are on the desk, and the negotiations are primarily based on the fitting details and the info we alternate with them. That’s fully rooted within the true image which exists between the 2 international locations. So, the BTA progresses on these strains,” Barthwal stated.
A number of specialists in India have additionally identified that the 26 per cent reciprocal tariffs introduced by the US on India have been primarily based solely on items commerce, whereas ignoring companies commerce — an space the place the US and different Western international locations maintain appreciable benefits over creating nations.
In keeping with knowledge compiled by the US Bureau of Financial Evaluation, which falls below the nation’s Division of Commerce, companies exports from the US to India have persistently grown during the last three years. In 2022, such exports stood at $26.53 billion, rising to $33.99 billion in 2023, and $40.26 billion in 2024.
Notably, the US recorded a marginal commerce deficit with India by way of companies imports from New Delhi throughout the identical interval — with imports recorded at $33.03 billion in 2022, $36.4 billion in 2023 and $40.74 billion in 2024.
India is taken into account the biggest market by person base for a number of main US tech firms — equivalent to Meta’s Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Alphabet’s Google Search and YouTube — owing to its giant inhabitants and a few of the world’s lowest web knowledge charges.
As such, past direct financial worth, Indian customers present a whole bunch of tens of millions of eyeballs for American tech merchandise, whereas additionally producing huge quantities of information to fine-tune their companies.
By the way, countering issues over the selective use of products commerce deficit, China, in a white paper launched final week, stated that companies and native gross sales of home enterprises’ branches within the different nation (i.e., native gross sales generated by means of two-way funding) also needs to be taken into consideration when discussing commerce.
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“When the three elements — commerce in items, commerce in companies, and native gross sales of home enterprises’ branches within the different nation — are thought-about collectively, it turns into clear that the financial and commerce advantages accrued by China and the US are roughly balanced,” the Chinese language white paper acknowledged.
In India, revenues from main American firms’ operations right here have been on a gradual rise, notably in internet marketing, which has seen substantial progress resulting from growing digital adoption within the nation.
As an illustration, Meta India’s income from operations in FY24 grew by 9.3 per cent to Rs 3,034.8 crore, up from Rs 2,775.7 crore in FY23, whereas its web revenue rose by 43 per cent to almost Rs 505 crore. Meta India additionally makes royalty funds to Meta USA for the commercialisation of mental property, together with infrastructure fees.
Equally, Google India noticed its revenues enhance by 26 per cent to Rs 5,921.1 crore in FY24, from Rs 4,700 crore in FY23. Microsoft India’s FY24 income grew by greater than 18 per cent year-on-year to almost Rs 23,000 crore.
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The World Commerce Analysis Initiative (GTRI) stated that the US ceaselessly misrepresents commerce figures. “For instance, Trump claimed that the US commerce deficit with India is $100 billion, whereas India’s official knowledge locations it at below $45 billion. Equally, the White Home reality sheet inaccurately acknowledged that India imposes a 100 per cent tariff on Harley-Davidson bikes, when the precise tariff was lowered from 50 per cent to 30 per cent on 1 February 2025,” the GTRI report acknowledged.
