WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI — US and India trade negotiators were pushing on Wednesday to try to land a tariff-reducing deal ahead of President Donald Trump’s July 9 negotiating deadline, but disagreements over US dairy and agriculture remained unresolved, sources familiar with the talks said.
The push comes as Trump announced an agreement with Vietnam that cuts US tariffs on many Vietnamese goods to 20 percent from his previously threatened 46 percent. Trump said that US products could enter Vietnam duty free, but details were scant.
Trump threatened a 26 percent duty on Indian goods as part of his April 2 “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs, which were temporarily lowered to 10 percent to buy time for negotiations.
Sources in India’s commerce ministry said that a trade delegation from India was still in Washington a week after arriving for talks that started last Thursday and Friday.
They may stay longer to conclude a deal, but without compromising on key agricultural and dairy issues, the sources said, adding that it was unacceptable to lower tariffs on genetically modified corn, soybeans, rice and wheat grown in the US
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government “doesn’t want to be seen as surrendering the interests of farmers – a strong political group in the country,” one of the sources said.
