NEW DELHI: US trade representative Jamieson Greer has told the US Senate panel that the type of offers India has been talking about have “been the best-ever the US has “received as a country” as the negotiations between the two countries gathered momentum.Greer told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that India has been “quite forward leaning” but termed India a “tough nut to crack.”He said there was “resistance on certain row crops and other meats and products” from New Delhi in a reference to govt’s reluctance to allow import of corn and soybean, most of which are genetically modified.
The remarks came as a team of senior trade officials from US are in New Delhi to take forward the negotiations on the much-awaited trade deal between two countries. tnn
Greer: India now ‘a viable alternative market’ for US
Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal met with deputy USTR Rick Switzer in the capital and two sides exchanged views on matters related to India-US trade and economic ties, including on the ongoing negotiations for a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA), India’s commerce department officials said.In Jaipur, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told reporters that he hoped to meet with the US trade team on Thursday. “I have said many times that all agreements, all discussions have many diverse and different angles. Many dots have to be connected and we never negotiate deals with deadlines,” Goyal said when asked whether the first phase of a trade deal could be expected this year. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the panel that India was now “a viable alternative market” for US commodities at a time when US producers are faced with surging inventories and fluctuating demand from China. “We have to find a way to manage that trade,” he told the panel, adding that India represents a promising but historically difficult market to “crack.”In Jaipur, the commerce and industry minister detailed the number of free trade agreements that India was negotiating with different countries, including the EU, Israel, New Zealand, Chile and Oman. “The air is pregnant with possibilities. While every agreement has many dynamics, I can say with certainty both sides are committed to an early conclusion of the deal, early conclusion of the free trade agreement whether it happens in one month, next week or next month, we will wait and watch,” Goyal said when asked whether he expects the closure of the talks on the India-EU trade deal before Jan 26.
