US-India trade talks appear to have stalled, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as both sides remain unwilling to compromise on opening India’s agriculture and dairy markets to US products.
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Before US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the country, the Indian side was expected to visit. However, Indian negotiators will not be coming to Washington in mid-August as a planned follow-up to their previous meeting about two weeks ago, according to one person familiar with the issue.
A scheduled trip by the US Trade Representative Jameison Greer to New Delhi later in the month also appears unlikely if the two sides do not reach a consensus on market access.
The apparent setback follows five rounds of negotiations between April and July after Trump threatened India with 26 per cent so-called reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
India’s agricultural sector supports the livelihoods of roughly 42 per cent of the country’s population, making Trump’s demand for access politically risky for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ratcheting up tension between Washington and the world’s most populous country.
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One of the sources said the mood in New Delhi felt “bitter”, while both sources said the US negotiators have remained firm in demanding a “complete” opening of the Indian market, an approach India has rejected to protect its domestic industries and farmers.