The year 2022 has been a remarkable and historic year for the US relationship with its trading partners. The most significant achievements and records occurred in U.S. relations with India, the United States, Mexico and Vietnam.
India
Top diplomats and experts from the U.S. and India mark 2022 as an exceptional year for trade relations between the two countries, and believe that 2023 will be a watershed year for their connections determining the future of technology and innovation. President Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Modi twice this year, once on the sidelines of the Quad Conference in Tokyo in May and again on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in September, and the two had fruitful conversations about the entire scope of Indo-US commercial relations and the way forward.
The year 2022 saw tangible results: the trade relations between the two have expanded exponentially, with bilateral trade hitting a record $135.98 billion in two-way goods and services trade in 2022 and the US emerging as the top destination for India’s merchandise exports. Besides, many other significant outcomes had been achieved in the previous year, including the resolution of some old market access issues, the signing of an Investment Incentive Agreement, the launch of Technology Innovation Hubs as a collaboration of respective science agencies, and a record level of trade and investments.
Moreover, The India-US TPF intends to activate working groups in agriculture, non-agricultural goods, services, investment, and intellectual property to address mutual concerns and offer practical advantages to both nations by resolving outstanding market access issues. At the TPF's recently concluded ministerial meeting, India and the United States emphasized their determination to enhance bilateral trade and economic ties. During the meeting, both countries stressed the importance of the forum in establishing strong bilateral trade connections and strengthening bilateral economic partnerships. Both countries decided to work together to improve supply chain resilience, particularly in important industries that support both economies.
China
U.S.-China trade broke records in 2022, signaling the resilience of ties between the world's leading economies amid sharp rhetoric on national security issues in Washington and fears of a "decoupling." U.S. government data suggest that imports and exports in 2022 will reach an all-time high, or at least be very close to it, when the final report is released on Feb. 7. Beijing released its own full-year data, which shows a record trade volume of about $760 billion.
Still, they’re striking numbers in an era when tough-on-China is the closest thing there is to bipartisan consensus in Washington. They demonstrate how inextricably linked the two economies remain, even as the US wants to slow China's rise and Beijing seeks to undermine Washington's global influence. There have been encouraging indicators recently, including Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping's first face-to-face meeting in November, as well as preparations for further high-level meetings, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken's travel to China this year.
Mexico
Mexico was one of the largest U.S. trading partner 2022, with nearly $450 billion in bilateral trade. The value of Mexican exports to the U.S. was up 20 percent over the first seven 2021s, and imports from the U.S. were up 19.5 percent.
The majority of Mexico's export revenue comes from manufactured items such as automobiles, machinery, computers, and televisions. However, it also exports a variety of other goods to the United States and other nations, including crude oil, fruits and vegetables, chemicals, beer, and alcoholic beverages such as tequila, mezcal, and wine.
Mexico imports gasoline and other refined fuels, which President López Obrador is working to change, as well as food (particularly corn) and consumer goods such as cell phones.
Vietnam
According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's exports to the United States reached USD 85.17 billion in the first nine months of 2022, a rise of USD 16.3 billion over the same period previous year, or a growth rate of 23.7%.
Currently, the United States is Vietnam's greatest export market. The world's largest economy contributed for 30.16% of the country's export turnover over the last nine months.
Other Large US Trade Partners
U.S. trade with other nations is worth $4.9 trillion in 2022. After China, India, Vietnam and Mexico, the largest U.S. trading partners are the following:
- Canada - $320.8B
- U.K. - $261.7B
- Japan - $107.4B
- Germany - $81B
- South Korea - $63.4B
- Ireland - $56.2B
- Switzerland - $55.4B
- Netherlands - $55.3B
- Brazil - $54.4B
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