PTI New Delhi

The US, despite reporting a USD 44.4 billion trade deficit with India, runs a USD 35-40 billion overall surplus when revenues from education, digital services, financial activities, royalties, and arms trade are factored in, economic think tank GTRI said on Monday.

It said for India, this means it has every reason to walk into free trade agreement negotiations with confidence, pushing back hard against inflated deficit claims and demanding fair, balanced terms that reflect the full economic relationship, not just a narrow, cherry-picked slice of the ledger.

In 2024-24, the US has recorded a trade deficit of about USD 44.4 billion with India, which means Washington has imported far more goods and services from India than it exported. US President Donald Trump has on multiple occasions highlighted this gap, accusing India of unfairly benefiting from trade. Washington is also using the deficit figures to push India to unilaterally lower tariffs and open its market further, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said.

"But this trade deficit narrative is misleading and incomplete," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said, adding that according to the think tank, the US quietly rakes in USD 80-85 billion every year from India through education, digital services, financial operations, intellectual property royalties, and arms sales.

"These massive earnings do not show up in the narrow goods trade statistics. When you factor them in, the US isn't running a deficit with India at all - it's sitting on a USD 35-40 billion surplus," he said.