India’s supply of Hydroxychloroquine to US might turn up with a smaller trade deal, includes the demand to reduce tariff on Aluminium

Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s ambassador to the US stated that India and the US could strike a “smaller” trade deal in the coming weeks. This was conveyed by him while acknowledging that the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have been a "bit of a setback" in moving ahead as the governments are focused on tackling the health crisis.

Addressing the virtual West Coast Summit of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Sandhu said that: “India's supply of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the US has given the two countries enough confidence and have played an important foundation.”

Sandhu said: “The top leadership has also been talking about it and I feel that perhaps in the coming few weeks, we should be able to strike the smaller trade deal.”

“I continue to be very optimistic about the trade deal. I must mention that this current unprecedented challenge has given a bit of a setback in the sense that the focus of all the governments got to tackle the health crisis.”

He told the leaders of the top US companies that the trade officials from the two countries have been in constant communication over this issue.

 “It will help in the overall confidence building because, during this particular phase, the United States and India have been reliable partners. And I think that everybody has seen in our case whatever the supply chain at stakes, especially in pharma sector, which we weren't involving whatever the United States requested us, keeping in view our huge domestic requirements, but it was ensured that all those are supplies were supplied and at the same price,” Sandhu said.

“I think that has certainly had an impact. That has given them confidence and I feel that will be an important foundation to ensure that this smaller trade gets announced soon enough and then we move ahead,” Sandhu said.

Ahead of US President Donald Trump''s maiden visit to India in February’20, there were reports that the two sides would sign the first phase of a mega trade deal.

After his talks with Trump on 25^th February’20, Prime Minister Modi said, both the sides agreed to start negotiations for a "big trade deal" and hoped that it will yield good results in mutual interest.

India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain products like aluminium, resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), and greater market access for its products from sectors like agriculture, automobile, auto components and engineering.