India, US trade deal is not likely at Modi-Trump meet
WASHINGTON: A trade deal with the US is not expected to be among the announcements after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session next week. But the two sides could get closer to an agreement or arrive at, what one expert has said, a “trade understanding”.
“It will be premature to talk about a trade deal,” a person familiar with discussions taking place about the meeting said. “We have not reached that stage yet.”
Some investments and “positive” business announcements are expected and Modi will be reaching out to leading business leaders at separate engagements as he has during every US visit earlier, the person said.
Neither country has officially announced the meeting. But Modi and Trump will be holding a delegation-level meeting next week. It will be their second interaction in a week following a joint appearance and address at an India American outreach event— “Howdy, Modi! —in Houston on Sunday. Trade is likely to figure in the talks. It has figured in all of their previous meetings, especially the two recent ones on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan in June, and the G7 in Biarritz, France, in August, which was overshadowed by discussions on Kashmir.
Officials from the two countries have been working towards resolving trade issues that have always been around in some form or the other. They have shot to the top of the list in the bilateral agenda under Trump, who has stressed the need for equitable tariffs, level playing field, and market access.
Atman Trivedi, a former department of commerce official in the Obama administration, said that a deal, if reached at all, will be “targeted” and “modest”, but the two sides could come to a “trade understanding” and that would be just as significant.
“These initial steps can and should pave the way for progress on a broader basket of issues, including IP, the digital economy, and e-commerce,” he said. “But that will require political will and a sustained, disciplined approach by both countries.”