By Alistair Smout
LONDON (Reuters) -India is making “fantastic” progress in trade talks with the United States, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters on Thursday, adding he was very confident that India would get special treatment from President Donald Trump.
Trump threatened a 26% tariff on Indian imports in April but paused implementation to allow for talks. That pause ends on August 1, though India has yet to receive a formal tariff letter, unlike more than 20 other countries.
Earlier this week two Indian government sources said the prospects of an interim trade deal before the deadline had dimmed, as talks remain deadlocked over tariff cuts on key agricultural and dairy products.
In an interview during a visit to London, Goyal played down the importance of deadlines in trade talks but struck a bullish tone on how negotiations with the United States were going.
“We’re making fantastic progress with the United States, and I do hope we’ll be able to conclude a very consequential partnership,” Goyal said.
Asked about possible disagreement with Washington over agriculture, Goyal said that “negotiations happen in the negotiation room”, but said India wouldn’t necessarily hold out for a comprehensive deal if smaller sectoral wins were possible.
“All options are on the table, and we will see how it plays out, but what is important is to get preferential market access over our competitors, our peers,” he said.
“And I’m very confident that India, having been the first country to start negotiating, will be given a special and preferred treatment.”
On Wednesday Trump announced a deal with Japan which lowers auto tariffs, though medicines and semiconductors will be negotiated separately.
Goyal was in London after signing a free trade deal with Britain, which has also negotiated sectoral tariff relief with the White House.
But while other countries may have secured deals with Trump ahead of India, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts in February to kickstart trade talks with a White House visit, Goyal played down the significance of deadlines.
“I don’t think any of the negotiations ever worked with deadlines or the preconceived limitations,” Goyal said, adding he wanted a win-win deal.
“One has to have a broad mind and a package which is balanced and can give equity to both sides.”
(Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Daniel Wallis)
