WASHINGTON • United States President Donald Trump has cast doubts over the likelihood of an anticipated trade deal with India, just days before a scheduled visit to the South Asian power.
"Well, we can have a trade deal with India but I'm really saving the big deal for later," he told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Trump last year kicked India out of the the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme for developing countries that gave some Indian exports tariff-free access to the US market.
Officials from both sides have since then been trying to hammer out a modest agreement, which would open up India to American exports of agricultural products and medical devices in return for restoring India's preferential status.
People familiar with the negotiations said they had been making progress until recent days, building expectations of an announcement during Mr Trump's visit next Monday.
But Mr Robert Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative, cancelled a planned visit to the country last week as the talks appeared to stall - just as they had ahead of a visit to the US last year by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Trump appeared to confirm that on Tuesday, when he 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".
The negotiations have centred on US demands for greater access to the Indian market sought by American makers of medical devices as well as dairy farmers.
India has offered greater market access for American farm products ranging from alfalfa hay to pecans. It has also offered to lower the duties on large-engine Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In return, India has been seeking a restoration of its GSP privileges.
But people familiar with the discussions said the talks had also been complicated by new tariffs introduced by both sides.
India announced higher tariffs on medical devices and a range of other products in its budget earlier this month, angering the US.
Meanwhile, a move by the Trump administration last month to extend tariffs on steel and aluminium to downstream products annoyed Indian officials.
Indian media last week quoted Ms Alice Wells, the top US diplomat focused on South Asia, as saying a failure to reach what she described as a "tiny phase one trade deal" with India ahead of Mr Trump's visit would be a "big setback".
BLOOMBERG
