“We’re Not Treated Very Well by India”, Trump Says Ahead of India Visit

While there is much anticipation about Donald Trump’s Indian visit, the American President also casts doubts about signing anything concrete. "Well, we can have a trade deal with India, but I’m really saving the big deal for later on," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to California.

Officials from both the American and the Indian end have been trying to get a modest agreement running as far as developing Indian exports tariff-free access to the US market is concerned.

Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he still wanted to do “a very big trade deal with India," but added “I don’t know if it will be done before the election."

“We’re not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot," he further said.

It’s been reported that India, which is the world’s largest milk-producing nation and has traditionally restricted dairy imports to protect the livelihoods of 80 million rural households involved in the industry, has offered to partially open up its poultry and dairy markets in a bid for a limited trade deal during American President Donald Trump's first official visit to the country this month.

Notably, the impending visit, slated for February 24-25, is aimed at rebuilding bonds between the world's largest democracies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ensuring he’s doing everything he can to turn it into a major success.

In case, you didn’t know, in 2019, Trump had suspended India's special trade designation that dated back to the ‘70s after Modi put price caps on medical devices like cardiac stents and knee implants and introduced new data localisation requirements and e-commerce restrictions.

Trump's trip to India has given hope that he would restore some of the country's US trade preferences in exchange for tariff reductions and other concessions.

India has offered to allow imports of American chicken legs, turkey and produce such as blueberries and cherries, government sources said, and has offered to cut tariffs on chicken legs from 100 per cent to 25 per cent. However, American negotiators want that tariff to be cut to 10 per cent. The Modi government is also offering to allow some access to India's dairy market but with a 5 per cent tariff and quotas.