Donald Trump ‘likes Modi’ but US may not sign a trade deal with India — here’s why

• US President Donald Trump may not sign the much anticipated $10 billion trade deal during his India visit.
  
• United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer canceled his visit last week after talks about the deal being postponed started doing the rounds.
  
• Recently, the US said it had approved a sale of Integrated Air Defense Weapon System at the cost of $1.87 billion to India.
  

US President Donald Trump may not sign the much-anticipated $10 billion trade deal during his India visit. The US which just approved of a $1.87 billion defence deal with India, seems to want to give gifts in tranches as Trump that he will ‘save trade deal for later’.

This is right after Trump said he really ‘likes Modi’, reported Bloomberg.

"We can have a trade deal with India but I am really saving the big trade deal for later on. We are doing a very big trade deal with India. We will have it. I don't know whether we will have it before the election, but we will have a very big deal with India," Trump told the media.

However, India’s categorical refusal to let him interfere in the Kashmir situation might not have gone down well with Trump who himself hosted a mega-event Howdy Modi in September.

“We are not treated very well by India but I happen to like prime minister Modi a lot and he told me seven million people between the airport and the event. So it's going to be very exciting," Trump told the media.

Much ahead of the visit, rumours of the trade deal started doing the rounds as United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer was supposed to be a part of the trip. However, Lighthizer canceled his visit last week which made people speculate what Trump just confirmed.

The deal could have secured a free trade-agreement between the two nations. The trade relations of the countries have been suffering ever since India did not toe the line of US’ standoff with China.

India — ‘a tariff king’

The US is the second largest trade partner for India after China and as much as $142.6 billion is at stake.

The trade tensions between US-India were escalating ever since Trump introduced higher aluminium and steel tariffs on Indian imports. Trump also removed India from the Generalised System of Preferences — that gives it tariff-free access to the US market. In retaliationAs a result, India also imposed higher import tariffs on 28 US products. Both sides have been making an effort to open a dialogue and come to an agreement.

Trump had earlier called India ‘a tariff king’ for imposing higher custom duty on products like Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

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