US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on Thursday said the two countries had wrapped up the major items on their trade deal agenda, with negotiations moving at an “incredible pace”. Drawing a comparison with the India-EU trade pact, Gor highlighted the speed of the US talks, saying a deal was announced within weeks of his arrival in India, while negotiations for the European Union agreement took nearly two decades.Commenting on America’s 100% tariff for Russian gas and oil buyers, he said that US President Donald Trump is expected to take a decision within the next 10 days. Gor said that the legislation, which received 86 votes in the 100-member US Senate, gives the President the authority to impose sanctions on countries involved in buying Russian oil and gas or helping others evade sanctions. However, he maintained that the measures were not designed to target India or any other individual country.“…We have ongoing discussions on that as it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. That law got 86 votes out of 100 in our Senate… These sanctions options that Congress passed, they are not targeted at any individual country. It is three different buckets; one is oil, the second is gas, the third is sanctions evasion.”He further added that these nations are identified based on numbers.“It just happens that India does fall in one of those buckets, along with a lot of other countries. The goal is not to punish anyone. The goal is to try to bring an end to this war. I do think the president will make a determination on that over the next few days…”The law requires Trump to make a determination within 30 days of its passage. Gor said that no country had yet been sanctioned under the legislation and that any decision on exemptions or relief for India would be up to the President.“He has to make a determination in the next I believe 10 or so days,” Gor said.
India-US trade deal: ‘ big items are done’
Alongside the discussions on sanctions, Gor expressed confidence that India and the US would soon reach a trade agreement, saying the negotiations had advanced considerably despite the challenges involved.“The big picture, the big framework, the big items are done,” he said, describing the outstanding matters as smaller details and issues that could arise as talks continued.The negotiations have now been under way for around a year and a half.Gor said that the pace of discussions compared favourably with other trade agreements, while noting that the US had to revisit parts of an earlier arrangement after the Supreme Court ruled the law underpinning it unconstitutional.He pointed to the speed of engagement since his arrival in India as a reason for optimism, contrasting the process with the time taken to negotiate the European Union trade deal.“…Within three weeks of arriving here, we announced a trade deal… The European Union trade deal took almost 20 years. So we’re at an incredible pace, and I am confident that we will get it done.”
US firms and their Indian presence
Gor said that American businesses had significant opportunities in India, thanks to the country’s market and government’s approach to overseas investment. He highlighted defence manufacturing, IT, data centres and chip manufacturing as areas where companies from the two countries were already working together.“…You have an unmatched market here for our companies… For the private sector to be able to come to India to compete, to have their foot in the door, you have a very pragmatic prime minister here that welcomes outside investment. Pick any sector, and we’re working together at it.”Naming the sectors where India excels, the US ambassador said, “If you look at the defence world, we have co-production happening here in India. If you look at IT, it’s unmatched. Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Micron; every one of them is opening data centres and chip manufacturing here that work with our companies hand in hand in the United States. So when a job is created in India, a counter job is created in the United States. It is an incredible win-win situation that I would say is unmatched. We’re actively engaged…”According to Gor, investment in India can generate employment opportunities on both sides, with US companies working alongside their American counterparts even as they expand operations in India. He added that the two countries were actively engaged across sectors and reiterated his confidence in the trade negotiations.
