India and the United States are near to finalizing a trade agreement, US President Donald Trump said on Monday, despite the fact that his government sent letters to 14 nations warning them of tariffs.
Trump Mentions India Deal in Netanyahu Meeting
“We’ve made a deal with the United Kingdom, we’ve made a deal with China, we’re close to making a deal with India,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
New Delhi and Washington have been in hard negotiations to seal a trade agreement while America’s retaliatory tariffs – postponed by 90 days in April – were extended from July 9 to August 1.
Indian Delegation Holds Crucial Talks in Washington
A delegation headed by special secretary Rajesh Agrawal departed America last week after having crucial talks with the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
“I think they basically sewed up what is likely to be an agreement in principle but not a legally binding agreement in which the two sides issue a statement highlighting what is what has been agreed so far,” Mark Linscott, senior advisor at the Asia Group and former Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asian Affairs, told HT.
Deal to Focus on Tariffs, Market Access, Digital Trade
“Based on what we’ve heard and read and the conversations we’ve had, I think it will be substantial. I think it will go further than the other two agreements that have been announced so far with the UK and Vietnam, I think there will be benefits for both sides and concessions that have been agreed on both sides. I think it will be substantial on tariffs. It won’t cover the full tariff schedules for each country, but I think it will be substantial in terms of what we call market access. I think it will include a number of priority non-tariff barriers. I think it will at least start to put together the pieces of some complicated areas like digital trade,” added Linscott, who was involved in US-India trade talks during the first Trump administration.
Trump, Modi Kickstarted Trade Talks During February US Visit
The bilateral negotiations for a US-India trade agreement were unveiled in February this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to America.
New Delhi and Washington agreed to negotiate the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement by September this year. America has looked at increased exports of US industrial products to India while New Delhi has lobbied for enhanced access for its labour intensive exports to US markets.
Enhancement of bilateral trade in farm products and lowering non-tariff trade barriers have also been at the centre of their priorities. In their bilateral sit-down, Trump and Modi laid out intentions to double bilateral trade to about $500 billion by 2030.
