U.S. Commerce Secretary and a leading Trump-era trade representative Howard Lutnick has urged India to put its faith in President Donald Trump. Addressing a pivotal forum, he promised that the President would "take care" of India's economic and strategic interests.
In his role as the lead negotiator on U.S.-India trade discussions and as a trusted advisor to President Trump, Lutnick expressed confidence that both nations are on the verge of finalizing a trade agreement.
At the USISPF annual summit, Lutnick underscored Trump's international focus even after the "America First" policy. "The President thinks of America first, but he does not think of America only or America exclusively," he added.
"First, he's going to take care of home so we're big and strong, but then he's going to take care of his friends," he said. "He's going to make sure he takes care of India who he admires and respects very, very much, and we are going to have a great, great relationship together," he added, emphasizing Trump's respect for India and its leadership.
But Lutnick also referred to some of the trade issues, specifically in regard to India's tariff regime, as he established the tone for the American expectations at the negotiations. "India is highly protectionist with tariffs. They've got 100 per cent tariff on this and 100 per cent tariff on that. And if you ask them why, the answer is, I don't know why. It just is," he said bluntly.
Emphasizing the imperative for reform, Lutnick went on, "So I think the concept of actually examining those things, considering them, and bringing them to a level that is fair and appropriate so we can be excellent trading partners with each other, I think, is squarely on the table, and it's not painful because they have not considered it. They think, yeah, it makes sense. Let's go make this a correct trading relationship."
The main objective for the U.S. is to get greater access to Indian markets, a contentious issue long lingering in bilateral trade negotiations, Lutnick says.
What we hope to get is market access. We would like our companies to have decent access to the Indian markets. Now, it's not going to be all, and it's not going to be everywhere, but we want to have the trade deficit decreased now," he added.
He admitted that India will also want something in return—preferential access to American markets in major sectors. ".what India is going to want is they're going to want certain key markets. that they're going to want to make sure that they have special access to the American marketplace. And so that's the trade off."
Giving a preview of the negotiating approach, Lutnick said, "If I say, Look, I'll deal with you amazingly nicely on the things that are most important to you, and you reduce your tariffs and provide us market access. And let's find the right spot in the middle."
He condemned lengthy bureaucratic trade negotiations, calling for strong negotiation. "And I think if you've got the right person on the other side, what occurs is, if you insert a standard Trade Minister, it's a never-ending set of talking and no result, because they are accustomed to saying, this type of agreement would take three years. Let's achieve this in two years, and that's not really enjoyable for me."
Lutnick closed on an optimistic note, saying that both parties have agreed on important points. "So the thought is, when they put the right person in India, put the right person on the other side of the table, and we've been able to be in a very, very good place.". And you can anticipate a trade between the United States and India not too far down the line, because I believe we located a spot which actually suits both nations."
Read also| India Inc. Achieves Robust Q4 Profit Growth Despite Global Challenges: Report
Read also| India's Foodgrain Output Surges 6.6% to Record 354 Million Tonnes in 2024–25
