The tiff over trade

Donald Trump has always remained unhappy with the balance of trade; at one point, he even managed to ruffle the placid Canada. The US, much before Trump arrived on the scene, has always felt shortchanged by India’s tariffs much as New Delhi would argue otherwise. In classic pressure tactics, the US removed customs duty concessions on Indian goods, but New Delhi refused to negotiate piecemeal, especially in the farm sector.

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Other existential differences exist: American Internet companies have thrived because they freely harness data from all over the world while India now wants to have some control over this data; India has to balance the interest of its small shopkeepers and US e-commerce giants; US has kept an unwilling India away from oil giants Iran and Venezuela; India wants an economic plan to dominate over a security-dominated approach to the Asia-Pacific.

Trade has grown mainly after India began purchasing oil from the US but the trade balance leaves Trump indignant. Now that Trump wants to walk away from WTO, India will take a call on whether it is more feasible to make a big bang gesture of announcing their intention to negotiate a free trade agreement or address mutual concerns on a piecemeal basis. — TNS

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