By Sushil Kutty
US President Donald Trump has been talking of a trade deal with India for quite some time. In the same breath as when he’s threatening to slap fresh tariffs on a number of countries. As many times as President Trump burps after polishing off a McDonald’s hamburger, which is Trump’s favourite fast-food.
On Tuesday, President Trump once again spoke of closing a trade deal with India ASAP. Global citizens have no trust in Trump and zero tolerance for McDonald’s hamburgers. President Trump’s guilt-trip, particularly when it comes to India, has become byword in the choppy waters of global trade.
President Trump knows he’s been taking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a ride and Modi none the worse for wear. Trump speaks from the White House rooftop about India and the USA coming close to closing a trade deal.
“Trade negotiators from Washington and New Delhi are pushing to finalise a tariff-reducing deal, but disagreements over dairy and agriculture sectors are delaying the process,” wrote a particular media still optimistic. “We’ve made a deal with the United Kingdom, we’ve made a deal with China, we’ve made a deal – we’re close to making a deal with India…,” Trump said at the White House.
For Prime Minister Modi, it is vindication. There would be nothing more satisfying and heartwarming for Modi than for Trump to cut a India-USA trade deal. After all, what are friends for and Trump and Modi have been friends for a donkey’s age!
President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have been one of the most reliable highfalutin duos on the global stage. They’ve shared more hugs than a pair of happy ‘jappi-bappi’ Sikh sardars.
President Trump’s Tuesday remarks came even as the US threatened to impose higher tariffs on key trading partners from August 1.Among them Bangladesh, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
“We’re sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay. Some will maybe adjust a little bit depending if they have a cause, we’re not going to be unfair about it,” Trump said with all the meagre innocence at his command.
President Trump wants India to open its market to genetically modified crops, which elicited a strict ‘no-no. The Indian government’s deal with Indian farmers is binding, a “long-standing red line”.
The problem is Trump. The US President can’t take no for an answer and he thinks the USA is entitled to always closing a deal in its favour. And Trump is impervious to a fair deal with the other side to the deal.
Union Minister for Commerce Piyush Goyal had made it clear India won’t be tricked into signing a deal that is unfair. Goyal has been roundly criticised for sticking to his line and length!
There’s a new strain of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ playing havoc and this one afflicts Trump and Trump’s acolytes unlike the one which had afflicted Trump’s adversaries in Trump’s first term.
Trump’s insistence that India give USA market access to Indian agricultural and dairy sectors is a symptom. These two sectors should be kept out of the purview of any proposed trade deal if concerns over rural livelihoods and food safety persist.
Trump must think Prime Minister Modi and his government does not have much in the top brackets. If Modi succumbs to the idea, then Trump must indeed be a genius. It is up to Modi to refuse to be “Surrender Modi”.
President Trump is a “Supremacist”, call him “White Supremacist” and he has a very low opinion of Asian and Indian. Trump is the sort who takes blind pleasure in the perception that Indian hot-bags should be permanently kept deflated.
Trump seeks a takeover of Indian Agriculture and allied sectors like dairy. Trump believes he is an economist and adept in cutting trade deals. Left to Trump, India will become a colony of another set of white supremacists. Granting access to key sectors of the Indian economy and cutting a deal with Trump will be proof India walked into a trap.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants a trade deal with Trump’s America, to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. Is Trump being unrealistic and is Prime Minister Modi any closer to distrusting Trump? Best advice to Prime Minister Modi is to not let Trump take him for a ride. (IPA Service)
