Trump says working on a very big trade deal with India,
but will take time
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 [February 19, 2020] By
Sanjeev Miglani
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump said the United States and India were working on a major trade
deal, but he was not sure if it would be completed before the U.S.
presidential election in November.
As Trump heads to India on his first official trip on Monday,
negotiators have been trying for weeks to put together a limited accord
giving the U.S. greater access to India's dairy and poultry markets and
lowering tariffs on other products.
But no breakthrough has yet been announced and a planned trip by United
States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was canceled, underlining
the difficulties the two sides face in narrowing differences ahead of
Trump's visit.
"We can have a trade deal with India, but I知 really saving the big deal
for later on," Trump told reporters on Tuesday, outside Air Force One at
Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
"We池e doing a very big trade deal with India. We値l have it. I don稚
know if it値l be done before the election, but we値l have a very big
deal with India," he said, in a transcript of remarks released by the
White House.
The United States is India's second largest trade partner after China,
with their goods and services trade hitting a record $142.6 billion in
2018.
Last year, the United States had a $23.2 billion goods trade deficit in
2019 with India, its 9th largest trading partner in goods.
Since Trump took office in 2017, long-standing trade differences between
the world's biggest democracies have come to the fore, with Trump
calling India the tariff king.
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Workers prepare a hoarding with the images of the U.S. President
Donald Trump and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of
Trump's visit, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, February 19,
2020. REUTERS/Amit Dave
The two have warred over everything from tariffs on farm goods to Harley
Davidson motorbikes and price caps on medical devices and India's new rules on
local data storage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has tried to build a personal rapport with
Trump, is pulling out all the stops for his visit, hosting him next week in
Modi's western home state of Gujarat for a reception in a cricket stadium.
"We池e not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi
a lot. And he told me we値l have 7 million people between the airport and the
event," Trump said, referring to a roadshow ahead of a "Hello Trump" rally in
Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat where he will begin the trip.
India and the United States have built close political and security ties in
recent years, with New Delhi turning to Washington as a top arms supplier,
edging out traditional partner Russia.
Modi's cabinet was meeting on Wednesday to give formal clearance for a
$2.6-billion deal for two dozen military helicopters from U.S. defense firm
Lockheed Martin <LMT.N>
(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff
Mason; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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