India, EU near 'mother of all deals' as Trump tariff tantrums jolt trade

India and the European Union are closing in on a long-elusive free trade agreement that leaders on both sides have branded the “mother of all deals”, a mega-pact they hope will anchor market access and strategic trust as President Donald Trump's tariff threats inject fresh volatility into global commerce.

- Issac John

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President of the European Union Ursula von der Leyen.

(REUTERS FILE)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Anténio Costa are in New Delhi ahead of the 16th EU-India Summit on January 27, when officials expect an announcement that negotiations are being concluded — even if signatures come later.

EU officials have said the objective is to complete talks, but not to sign in Delhi, as negotiators finish bridging gaps that have kept the agreement stuck for nearly two decades. The timing is no accident, trade experts and economists say.

India has faced tariffs as high as 50 per cent on some exports to the US, and Europe is bracing for renewed tariff brinkmanship and trade disruptions. That pressure has turned the India-EU negotiation from a slow-moving economic project into a strategic hedge — a way to lock in predictable rules, diversify demand and reduce vulnerability to abrupt policy swings from Washington. To underline the scale, the EU is already India’s largest goods trading partner.