Exclusive | Washington trade talks with India have stalled, sources say
Opening Indian farm, dairy markets to US and ties with Russia seen as stumbling block
US-India trade talks appear to have stalled, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as both sides remain unwilling to compromise on opening India’s agriculture and dairy markets to US products.
Before US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the country, the Indian side was expected to visit. However, Indian negotiators will not be coming to Washington in mid-August as a planned follow-up to their previous meeting about two weeks ago, according to one person familiar with the issue.
A scheduled trip by the US Trade Representative Jameison Greer to New Delhi later in the month also appears unlikely if the two sides do not reach a consensus on market access.
The apparent setback follows five rounds of negotiations between April and July after Trump threatened India with 26 per cent so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
Adopting a harsh tone on India in a social media post on Thursday, Trump called the Indian economy “dead”, saying, “we have done very little business” with the South Asian country because of “too high” tariffs.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” he wrote, referring to India’s import of Russian oil and defence equipment. On Wednesday, he threatened a “penalty” on India for buying Russian oil and defence equipment without making it clear what that penalty could be.