Negotiations between India and the US for a trade agreement have hit a pause, a government official told The Indian Express Friday. This comes two days after US President Donald Trump escalated trade tensions between the two countries by doubling tariffs on India to 50 per cent, the highest globally.
“Formal talks for a trade agreement have paused, pending a political resolution. The discussion is no longer in the realm of commercial negotiations. The arrival of the US trade team is uncertain, as no formal communication has been received from the US side,” the official said.
The pause in talks, after months of discussion, comes after New Delhi decided to dig in its heels over market access in the agricultural sector. Allowing genetically modified (GM) products is against India’s principle, a government official said last month.
Queries emailed Friday by The Indian Express to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry did not elicit a response.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country “will never compromise on the interests of its farmers, livestock rearers and fisherfolk”. He said he knew that he “personally will have to pay a very heavy price”, but he was “ready for it”.
There was, however, no reference to the deadlocked negotiations or to Trump’s unilateral action Wednesday of doubling the tariff on India from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. Trump did provide a 21-day window before the additional 25 per cent levy kicks in.
On Friday, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, speaking at the Business Today Summit, said India has signed trade deals with the UAE, Mauritius, EFTA, Australia and the UK, and is in “dialogue with many countries such as Oman, the EU, the US, Peru and New Zealand.”
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“The world keeps evolving. International trade keeps finding new pathways, and what we are seeing today is bound to happen every few years. Over time, new countries rise and some decline. This is part of the history of nations. And this is India’s time. The Prime Minister yesterday raised the confidence of the nation by saying that India is not going to bow down to anybody and that Indian farmers need not worry. India has a place in the new world order,” he said.
On how India would tackle deglobalisation and the penal US tariffs, Goyal said: “I don’t see any deglobalisation. I see countries restructuring their trade routes and trade partners, and I am confident that India will do more exports than we did last year.”
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