Can MAGA and MIGA co-exist? India-US trade tariff talks may hold the key

While a trade deal between India and US looks natural, given differences in economic structure, India will need to improve quality of its exports failing which US will simply turn to other producers

In his 2023 book 'No Trade Is Free', former United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer recounts his trade negotiations with India in 2020 for a mini trade deal that ultimately failed to materialise.

 

“We raised our issues: tariffs, agriculture access, medical device impediments, barriers to e-commerce and insurance, discrimination in the electronic payment sector, fish subsidies, and the list goes on. We made headway but could never quite close a deal. I always felt that (Piyush) Goyal wanted one but had to contend with the bureaucracy and the farmers as well as with me,” Lighthizer says, describing trade minister