A STUDY OF INDIA'S TRADE RELATION WITH THE USA DURING 1980-90

Abstract

The present work is an attempt to study India's trade relations with the USA. It comprises of data collection, detailed analysis of the problem and visualization of the prospects of Indo-US trade. The whole range of the subject of the study is divided into five chapters. The analysis has been presented both in tabular and graphical forms. A chapter-wise summary of the thesis is given below. CHAPTER 1 Here, the research problem, the objectives of the study and methodology have been introduced in the light of increasing importance of foreign trade in Indian economy, trends in India's foreign trade, and causes of sluggishness of India's exports. After examining different aspects of India's foreign trade through tables and graphs, it reveals increasing share of India's exports in net national product, changing pattern of India's exports towards non-traditional goods, changing pattern of imports from machinery to intermediate products, and important changes with the major trading partners. However, India's share in world exports has been declining which indicates that India's efforts have not been more fruitful than those of her competitors. A survey of literature on Indo-US trade has been also presented. The survey of literature on the subject reveals the fact that relatively less work has been done on Indo-US trade. CHAPTER 2 In this Chapter, a historical background of India's trade (iv) relation with the USA from early times to 1978, have been analysed with the help of tables and graphs. The purpose of this Chapter is to form a background for the discussions in the subsequent Chapters. And so, it focuses light on the evolution of trade relations between India and the USA and it is found that India's trade relations with the USA are very old, dating back to a time earlier than the American Civil War and since then, have continued to grow both in quantum and value except during the period of Trade Depression. CHAPTER 3 In this Chapter, growth of Indo-US trade during the period under study have been analysed. Besides this, analysis of surplus trade, composition of trade, US investment and collaborations in India with the help of tables and graphs have been done. Surplus trade have been analysed on the basis of balance of trade position. It shows that the magnitude of trade surplus has been increasing in favour of India expecially after 1982 and it is about $ 1194.6 million in 1991. The analysis of composition of trade reveals that considerable changes have occurred in composition of Indo-US trade. Although India's exports have been registering a persistent rise, looking from the global viewpoint India's share in total US imports is only 0.63 percent. This is one of th. indicators which reveals that there is Immense scope for expansion of exports to the USA. The analysis of stability in export receipts reveals that there has been stability in India's export receipts from USA during the period under study. Recent policy changes in India have aroused great expectations among US (v) business interests. In recent years US has emerged the largest foreign invertor and collaborator in India. CHAPTER 4 Chapter 4 analyses the US Trade Policies in terms of their evolution and historical perspective, evolution of Trade and Tariff Act of 1984, GSP renewal Act of 1984, Omnibus Trade & Competitiveness Act of 1988, Non-Tariff Barriers, issues relating to IPRs and implications of US trade policy for India. The analysis reveals that the provisions of the US trade policies and their application have affected its trading partners. Various protectionist bills pose a serious threat and do hampen enthusiasm for export expansion efforts from India. Corrective measures in Indian economy with regard to US objections have been also analysed. The analysis reveals that supported by liberal and pragmatic policy measures enunciated by Government of India in recent years, afair and favourable climate for trade and foreign investment has been created in the country and will boost our trade relation with the USA. CHAPTER 5 In this Chapter, besides strategies and marketing approaches, main conclusions are summarised and some recommendations are suggested for strengthening the trade relation between the two countries and to sort out the obstacles been faced today by Indian exporters in the US market.