Mark Linscott, adviser to the US India Strategic Partnership Forum, has said he is confident an interim trade deal between India and the US is imminent since both sides have reached the “necessary compromises”.
Mr Linscott was the first negotiator on the US side in US President Donald Trump’s previous administration on exploring the possibility of an interim trade deal with India.
“You referred earlier to a mini deal or a mega trade agreement. This is something in between. I think it will be more than mini. I think it will be quite substantial in terms of cutting tariffs. It may focus on industrial, but it will include some outcomes on agriculture. I do not think it will include dairy. I do not think it will include wheat. I know that there has been a lot of press attention to those two sub-sectors on agriculture in recent days. Largely, I think those are straw men,” he told NDTV.
While India is seeking greater market access for its labour-intensive goods, the US wants duty concessions for its agricultural products. These talks are important as the suspension of US reciprocal tariffs is ending on July 9. The two sides are looking at finalising the talks before that.
“I think there is an accommodation of sensitivities on both sides in an interim agreement. I think they shaped them quite a bit. There certainly is a dynamic in which this is the trade agreement that got away during the first Trump administration…
“The geopolitical situation is substantial in terms of impetus for a trade agreement between the United States and India. India is special. It is a market that matters more than almost any other market. India is an ally that has a special place in US strategic policies. I think that there is a real desire on the part of the US administration to get this done. It is a different kind of agreement that is being negotiated compared to nearly every other trading partner, whether it is Korea or Japan or the European Union,” Mr Linscott told NDTV.
According to him, the interim trade deal is intended to be a true win-win negotiation and an agreement that will endure and one that will be built on in a broader mega deal, a bilateral trade agreement.
“… I think what India put on the table impressed the US negotiators. There has been a recognition that this is not the end of the game, that this is only the first bite at the apple. The negotiations will continue. All of that has definitely mattered. I think that we will see much bigger negotiations down the road. Traditionally, they have been separate. Traditionally, they have been on separate tracks. In many respects, going back several administrations, trade was on the track that was not viewed as important as the strategic side. I do think that they are merging,” Mr Linscott added.
