Reciprocity or Surrender?

On February 3, the former Foreign Secretary of India and currently a nominated member of Parliament, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, lauded the India-US trade deal, which is yet to be signed, calling it the “father of all deals” and expecting bilateral trade to reach USD 500 billion, providing Indian exporters access to a USD 60 trillion market.

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Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Shringla said in the Rajya Sabha that it would help double the trade between the two countries and achieve the goal of USD 500 billion in the next few years. He also mentioned that at present the bilateral trade between India and the US is around USD 212 billion, and he expects it will reach USD 300 billion by the end of this year. He further observed that the 18 per cent tariff, which has been specified for India, is better than “all our international competitors such as Brazil, China, South Africa, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Indonesia”.Shringla also said the free trade agreement signed between the European Union and India last month, considered the “mother of all trade deals”, along with the India-US trade deal, would provide access to a “USD 60 trillion high-value market” to Indian exporters, reports The Print. Shringla made this statement in the Indian Parliament on the previous day (February 2), US President Trump announced that he would reduce trade tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent after New Delhi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, one of the major sticking points between the two sides.