Trade deal talks with US near finishing line: EAM Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar Saturday said many of the pending issues in the trade deal with the US were "not so much at our end" and that negotiations are near the "finishing line". "Well, it's certainly our hope, and in many ways anticipation that we are at the last stretch," he said. The comments come a week after a team of US officials came to India to discuss the customs and trade facilitation chapter with India, which is waiting for clarity on what the new tariff framework will be after the US Supreme Court ruled that US President Donald Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" were illegal. His comments may be an indication that govt is awaiting the next step from the Trump administration - which is conducting a second Section 301 probe against over a dozen countries for structural overcapacity. For several weeks now, officials from both sides have been stating that talks are in the final lap, with Trump also saying the deal with India may be different from other deals. "For us, the key is that we want a trade deal which is beneficial, is balanced and which would give us a comparative advantage over groups of comparable economies," Jaishankar said at the HT Leadership Summit. The repeated comments have raised hopes of the first tranche of the deal being announced soon, although things can move only after the US Trade Representative completes the second probe. PM Modi and Trump are due to meet in the US next month. Jaishankar said the US is India's biggest market and having the trade deal with it would benefit the country. "For the US, Trump is obviously looking to do a whole set of bilateral deals to improve markets for himself. Now, the challenge is to find a landing point." "I think this is not something which could have been done quickly, because these are serious issues; people's jobs and people's lives are at stake."