India, US closing in on package deal

Indian farmers and US manufacturers of medical devices could be among the main winners in a trade package under negotiation, as Washington and New Delhi look to remove long-standing irritants to ties, sources familiar with the talks said.

Having skirmished for months over tit-for-tat tariffs on steel and some agricultural products, the two sides began talks in June that also cover India's concerns over US steel tariffs and US problems with Indian tariffs on imported IT equipment. "We are closely negotiating a discrete package of trade issues. It will amount to a pretty substantive agreement," said a source.

Neither the office of the United States Trade Representative or India's trade ministry responded to a request for comment. The source said the two sides expected to close the deal in the next few weeks.

US President Donald Trump, who dislikes multilateral trade agreements, said earlier this month that India had approached the US to "start doing a trade deal," without giving any details.

The current discussions, however, are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction, and are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement, sources from both sides said.

Having already waded into bigger fights with China and the European Union, Trump has previously called out India for unfair trade practices. At an estimated $126 billion, US goods and services trade with India last year was less than a fifth of its trade with China.

The current discussions are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction