Why in news?
The Trade Policy Forum (TPF), a premier forum to resolve trade and investment issues between India and the United States has been re-launched after four long years.
What is the status of India-US bilateral trade?
- The US remained India’s biggest trading partner and largest export market and the bilateral trade exploded from approximately 20 billion dollars in 2001 to over 145 billion dollars in 2019.
- The US investment in India amounts to 46 billion dollars.
- Over 2,000 US companies are located in India, including every major Fortune 500 companies.
- Over 200 Indian companies created about 125,000 jobs in United States across all states.
- The US is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus with India’s exports exceeding the imports.
- The top traded goods include pearls and precious stones, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electronics, clothing, vehicles, chemicals and fish products, optical, photo, medical apparatus and aluminium.
What are the key issues in the bilateral trade relations?