India comes out on top on this: Trump administration on Delhi’s trade deal with EU

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India emerged on top in the India-EU free trade agreement, gaining greater market access and mobility benefits. He noted EU’s globalization push amid US protectionism and highlighted ongoing concerns over India’s Russian oil purchases

New York: India came out on “top” in the trade deal with the European Union and is going to have a heyday with this, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in the first reaction from the Trump administration on the free trade agreement.

Greer was responding to a question on the trade agreement, billed as the “mother of all deals”, sealed between India and the EU on Tuesday.

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“I’ve looked at some of the details of the deal so far. I think India comes out on top on this, frankly. They get more market access into Europe,” Greer said in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday.

“It sounds like they (India) have some additional immigration rights. I don’t know for sure, but President (Ursula) von der Leyen of the EU has talked about mobility for Indian workers into Europe. So I think on net, India is going to have a heyday with this. They have low-cost labour,” Greeer added.

He said that it looks like the EU is doubling down on globalisation when the US is trying to “fix some of the problems of globalisation here in the US.”   When asked if he has any impressions on the India-EU trade deal, Greer said that it’s important to understand that, because President Trump has prioritised domestic production and essentially started charging a fee for other countries to access the US market, these countries are trying to find other outlets for their overproduction.

“So the EU is turning to India to try to find a place. The EU is so trade dependent, they need other outlets if they can’t keep sending all their stuff to the United States,” he added.  Responding to a question on the 25 per cent tariff on India for Russian oil purchases, Greer said Delhi still pays those levies, on top of the 25 per cent reciprocal tariff that the Trump administration imposed on the country.

When asked if India is still buying Russian oil, Greer said, “They have made a lot of progress on this. I’m in frequent contact with my counterpart in India. I have a great working relationship with him, but they still have a way to go on this point. They like the discount that you get from Russian oil; it’s close by, so it’s hard for them.”

He said that the US  Treasury Department had put into place more significant sanctions a few weeks ago, adding that the US expect India “to continue to wind that down, but we’re watching it closely.”

The deal is set to create a market of two billion people, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership unveiling a transformative five-year agenda to largely leverage trade and defence in protecting the rules-based world order.

The two sides also inked two crucial pacts — one on security and defence collaboration and another on mobility of Indian talents to Europe — after Prime Minister Modi hosted von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa for summit talks amid frosty ties with the US.

The free trade agreement that will account for almost a quarter of the global GDP will reduce tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports to the EU and cut duties on over 97 per cent of the EU’s exports to India, according to officials.

Indian sectors such as textiles, apparel, leather goods, handicrafts, footwear and marine products are set to gain from the FTA, while Europe is set to benefit in areas of wine, automobiles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, among others.