While US President Donald Trump targets India for his country’s trade deficit with India and made it a basis for reciprocal tariffs, if all commercial exchanges between the two countries are taken into consideration, America actually runs a huge surplus with India, according to a study. The US trade deficit with India is close to $ 45 billion annually but the US rakes in $80–85 billion every year from India through education, digital services, financial operations, intellectual property royalties, and arms sales resulting in $ 35-40 billion surplus, the study by Global Trade Research Initiative said. “Even as Washington pressures India to cut tariffs and open markets, America is already reaping huge economic rewards from India.
India can and should negotiate the free trade agreement from a position of strength — rejecting hollow deficit arguments and demanding fair, balanced, and reciprocal terms,” founder of GTRI Ajay Srivastava said. In 2024-25, trade between India and the U.S. reached $186 billion as per the commerce ministry data. India exported $86.5 billion in goods to the U.S. while importing $45.3 billion, creating a goods trade surplus of $41 billion.
In services, India exported an estimated $28.7 billion and imported $25.5 billion, adding $3.2 billion to the surplus. Altogether, India ran a total trade surplus of about $44.4 billion Beyond trade, Indian students studying in the U.S. spend over $25 billion every year — about $15 billion on tuition and another $10 billion on living expenses, making education one of America’s biggest “exports” to India. US tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft bring in another $15–20 billion a year in sales from India’s market.
American banks and consulting firms — including Citibank, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG — earn an estimated $10–15 billion revenue annually from their work in India’s financial sector. While most work of Global Capability Centres is done in India, much of the real economic value is booked in the US GCCs earn $15-20 billion revenue yearly through India operations. The U.S. pharma firms like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck earn $1.5–2 billion annually through patents, drug licensing, and technology transfer.
Auto companies like Ford, GM, and component suppliers earn $0.8–1.2 billion through licensing and technical services. Hollywood and U.S. streaming platforms contribute another $1–1.5 billion through Indian box office sales, subscriptions, and content licensing Finally, US defense sales to India bring in billions more, although exact figures are often confidential.
