US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a podcast, made some big claims as to why there was no agreement on a trade deal between the United States and
India. According to Lutnick, the trade deal did not happen because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call his counterpart, Donald Trump. "Lets be clear, it's his (Trump's) deal. He is the closer. He does it. Its all set up, you got to have Modi, call the President. They were uncomfortable doing it. So, Modi didn't call. That Friday left, in the next week we did Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, we announced a whole bunch of deals," Lutnick said in an interview with the American venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, as part of the All-In Podcast. As per Lutnick, India was given a "time-bound" window to close the deal, however, there was no response from New Delhi, he said. He further pointed out that countries that agreed forc closing a deal sooner faced a lower tariff than the countries those took longer to strike a FTA. Also Read - Trump’s Russia Oil Crackdown: Has India Finally Hit Pause on Russian Crude? However, the list of countries that struck a deal in that window shows that Lutnick's claims do not match to what actually happened. For example, Vietnam concluded its trade negotiations earlier than most countries, yet its exports to the US continue to face the highest tariff rates. India’s exports to the US are currently subject to a 50% tariff. Explaining why no trade agreement has been finalised, the US Commerce Secretary suggested that Washington believed India would conclude negotiations earlier than other Asian countries and therefore discussed terms at a higher tariff level. “Because we (the US) negotiated with them (India) and assumed that India is going to be done before them (other Asian countries) and negotiated with them at a higher rate. So now, the problem is that the deals came out at a higher rate, and then India claws back and says, ‘oh okay, we are ready’. I said, ready for what?!” Lutnick said. He added that India approached the US weeks after others had moved ahead. “You know, it was like 3 weeks later. I go, ‘Are are you ready for the train that left the station 3 weeks ago?’” In simple terms, Lutnick’s remarks suggest that the US set tougher tariff terms for India early on, expecting a quick deal. When India did not finalise an agreement within that window and returned later to negotiate, the US position had already shifted, leaving India facing higher tariffs compared to some other countries that closed their deals sooner.
