India, US Looking At Firming Up Trade Deal Soon

NEW DELHI, May 24: India and the US are poised to soon firm up the much-awaited trade agreement that will be both “beneficial” and “sustainable” and will advance the mutual interests of both nations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday while asserting that the overall bilateral ties are set to witness an upward trajectory.
Rubio, currently on a four-day visit to India, made the remarks after holding wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that focused on boosting two-way cooperation in areas of trade, critical minerals, energy and defence.
The US Secretary of State’s maiden trip to India is largely seen as an attempt to repair bilateral relations that came under severe strain in the last one year over Washington’s trade and tariff policies.
“We’ve made tremendous progress, and I think we’re going to wind up with a trade agreement between the US and India that is going to be enduring and is going to be beneficial to both sides and sustainable in a way that addresses national interests that we have,” Rubio said at a joint media briefing with Jaishankar.
Rubio forcefully argued that the Trump administration’s policy on trade is driven by a greater aim to recalibrate Washington’s overall approach on global trade and is not directed against any specific country.
“This is about the United States in terms of trade. The President did not say: ‘Let’s figure out a way to create friction with India over trade’. The President came in and said: ‘We have a trade situation involving the US economy that doesn’t work moving forward’,” he said.
“There’s a huge imbalance that’s built up, and it needs to be addressed. He pursued it from a global perspective,” Rubio said.
The Secretary of State said there is virtually no country in the world that he has travelled to where the trade issue was not flagged. “The President said we have to rebalance US trade. This is not about India.” Rubio said a US trade delegation will visit India “very soon” to take forward the talks on the proposed trade deal.
The US Secretary of State also cited how the US had problems on trade with its allies, including the European Union.
“The difference is that India is a massive economy. This is a big economy where you’re the leading trade partner. We do a lot of trade with India, and so obviously, there’s a big difference between rebalancing trade with a country of this size and magnitude,” he said.
“The good news is that through this rebalancing, we are ultimately seeking and believe we will arrive at trade arrangements around the world that are good for the United States, but also good for our trade partners,” he said. (Agencies)