US-India bilateral exchange up 12% in 2018 amid the noise of trade war

Value of goods and services traded between the two nations rose to $142.1 bn in 2018 from $126.2 bn in 2017; US trade deficit with India narrowed to $24.2 bn from $27.2 bn

Amid the hullabaloo over the trade war between India and United States, bilateral exchange of goods and services between the two nations has risen 12.6 per cent to $142.1 billion in 2018 from $126.2 billion in 2017.

According to United States Trade Representative (USTR), exports of goods and services from US to India were valued at $58.9 billion whereas imports were worth $83.2 billion in 2018.

The data belies the simmering trade conflict between the two countries. Only last month, US had announced it was scrapping concessions to India under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The GSP scheme, launched