India and the US may soon have a trade agreement. Both countries are very optimistic about this and much progress has been made in this regard. US President Donald Trump said that soon his country will enter into a trade agreement with India. There are obstacles between the two countries on many issues such as tariffs on several goods, ie import tax cuts, which can be overcome by this agreement.
Trump showed Trust
When reporters asked Trump about the deal on Tuesday, he said, "I think it will be too soon." We are doing good work in this direction. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is here to talk to India. I think we will settle the business very soon. Later, there will be a comprehensive agreement, but for the time being we will make a trade agreement.
Significantly, PM Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, who reached the session of the United Nations General Assembly, met and held bilateral talks. The US is actually pressuring India to reduce the high import tax imposed on many products and work to correct the trade deficit. Both countries are working on a trade package and are trying to increase bilateral trade.
60 billion dollars Trade
In this press conference, PM Modi said, 'As far as business is concerned, I am very happy that in my presence in Houston, Indian company Petronet has signed a deal of $ 2.5 billion. In the next years, the Indian company will invest in the energy sector. This will generate $ 60 billion in trade and create 50,000 jobs in both countries in the next decade. I think this is a big initiative of India.
According to news agency PTI, this is the biggest deal done by any Indian company in liquefied gas in America, which was done on Saturday. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said, "There is no discussion on the trade agreement deadline, but we hope that we will reach a final conclusion on this soon." Negotiations for this agreement are on track. There are many complex issues, including people from the industry on both sides. There is also a question of jobs in both countries.
What does India want
Significantly, in the last three-four years, there has been a lot of progress on the issue of trade in both countries and the trade deficit has reduced. The Modi government is demanding that the United States reduce the exorbitant import tax imposed on steel and aluminum products and bring India back under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP). With GSP, products from many sectors like Indian agriculture, automobiles, auto components and engineering will get more penetration in the US market.
What is America's Demand
On the other hand, the US is demanding more market access for its agriculture, manufacturing, dairy items, medical devices and reduced import tax on ICT products like iPhone. In the year 2018-19, the US exported $ 52.4 billion to India, while imports amounted to $ 35.5 billion. The trade deficit between the two countries was $ 16.9 billion in 2018-19.
