Will India-US trade deal be announced at G7? USTR signals more talks, says pact not imminent
Trade will be on the agenda when Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Donald Trump at next week’s G7 summit in France, but an India-US trade agreement is not expected to be finalised during the gathering, a senior US administration official said on Saturday, Reuters reported.The official said US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will travel to India in the week following the G7 summit, signalling that negotiations are set to continue and that a trade deal remains under active discussion.“We know that Prime Minister Modi is quite ambitious about the role he sees for India, the importance of the U.S.-India relationship,” the official told reporters. “We think a potential trade deal is part of that.”According to the official, trade issues will feature in discussions between Trump and Modi during the summit, but no announcement of a final agreement is expected at the meeting.The comments provide one of the clearest indications yet from Washington that negotiations remain ongoing even as both sides seek to deepen economic ties.Trump, the official said, would insist on reaching “a very good deal.”“We think a very good deal is possible. I don’t think we’ll close that deal at the G7,” the official added.
