An US-India trade deal may be likely within the next few days — ahead of the August 1 deadline announced by President Donald Trump. The POTUS hinted on Tuesday that ongoing negotiations for the much-anticipated agreement remained on track and could be sealed soon. Trump also said that the proposed deal could provide American companies with greater access to the Indian market in line with the recently announced pact with Indonesia.
“We insist on opening up the country… which is a big deal. Indonesia was great… he’s a great president. We made a terrific deal, he opened up the entire country to trade with the United States. We were not allowed to go in and trade. I think something similar would happen with India and we have a couple of others…That’s probably the biggest part of the deal…India is basically working along that same line. We are going to have access to India,” Trump said.
The US has already sent letters to several countries sharing details of reciprocal tariff rates that would come into effect on August 1. New Delhi is hoping to strike a deal ahead of this deadline — with an Indian commerce ministry team currently in Washington for another round of talks on the proposed trade agreement. Top officials have however insisted that India will not enter into a rushed agreement with the US. The two countries have been holding negotiations for the trade pact primarily to keep the tariffs below 20%.
India has hardened its position on the US demand for duty concessions on agri and dairy products. New Delhi has, so far, not given any duty concessions to any of its trading partners in a free trade agreement in the dairy sector.New Delhi is seeking the removal of this additional tariff (26 per cent). It is also seeking the easing of tariffs on steel and aluminium (50%) and the auto (25%) sectors.