(Image source from: financialexpress.com)

The President of United States Donald Trump has said that the big deal with India is saved for later and that he does not know if it would be done before the presidential election that would take place in the month of November. This clearly indicates that a major bilateral trade that was in talks during his visit to Delhi which is scheduled to be in the next week might not be on cards.

The US President Trump has said to the reporters at the Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday that the country United States can have a trade deal with India but the big deal has been saved for later.

The media reports say that a trade package could be signed between the countries of India and the United States during the visit to India by the President of the United States.

The visit to India for two days by the President of the United States has been scheduled for the 24th and 25th of February.

"We're doing a very big trade deal with India. We'll have it. I don't know if it'll be done before the election, but we'll have a very big deal with India," as said by Trump when asked if he expects a trade deal with India before his visit to the country.

As said by the sources, Robert Lighthizer would not be accompanying Donald Trump during his visit to India although it has not been confirmed by the officials yet. Robert Lighthizer is the trade representative of the United States and the point- person for trade negotiations with India is.

The President of the United States has expressed his dissatisfaction over the trade ties between the countries of the United States and India as he has said “We’re not treated very well by India.” The US President has also praised Narendra Modi who is the Prime Minister of India and he has said that he has been looking forward for his visit to India as said that he happened to like Prime Minister Narendra Modi a lot.

He told the reports that Narendra Modi has told him that he would be welcomed by seven million people from the airport and the place where the event is taking place.

The US- India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) has said in a report that the  continuation of overall positive bilateral trade trends is being depicted in the latest quarterly data where as some down slide in the growth rates has been reflected by the third quarter data.

It has been said by the US- India Strategic and Partnership Forum that the reason may be due to several reasons which include the unexpected economic slowdown in the economic growth of India, the impact that has been made by the trade war between United States and China, withdrawal of GSP from the United States side and the retaliatory tariffs on specific goods of the United States from the Indian side.

The United States remains as the top trading partner for India regarding the trade in goods and services which is then followed by China. The goods of the United States as exports to India when compared has observed to be mainly concentrated in the mineral fuels, precious stones and aircraft.

A tough competition would be encountered by the United States with China in the Indian market in various areas like electronics, machinery, organic chemicals and other medical devices.

By Shrithika Kushangi