At the end of last week, news broke that President Donald Trump is currently in trade negotiations with India and plans to travel there relatively soon.
“White House sources tell Pro Farmer that Trump has made the decision to visit India, and he wants to this month,” said Pro Farmer Policy Analyst Jim Wiesemeyer on Friday’s AgriTalk Radio Show. “[Timing] depends on the Senate trial going on. If not January [he’ll visit in] February.
“They will announce a mini trade agreement that will include access to U.S. produce and dairy products,” Wiesemeyer continued.
Friday night in an interview with AgDay host Clinton Griffiths, Gregg Doud, chief ag negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative, confirmed the president does plan to travel to India.
There are conversations with India pending. I believe it’s in the press that the president is planning to go to India here at some point in the not too distant future,” Doud said. “So yes, there are conversations leading up to that, and those include discussions about agricultural topics.”
When pressed on whether or not the president hopes to secure a trade deal with India, Doud mentioned deliverables are likely. “The president is in the press that he’s planning on going to India at some point, and so typically the way that works is you work to tee up some deliverables for those types of meetings.”
Specifically, India will ask the U.S. to roll back higher tariffs on steel and aluminum in the deal, too, Wiesemeyer says. He believes this deal will be secured faster than the U.S.-China negotiations.
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