Trump is confident the US will eventually emerge the winner from whatever turmoil his policies cause, notes T T Ram Mohan.
Trump may temper his approach from time to time, but to think that he will change his basic philosophy is delusional, asserts T T Ram Mohan.
Global brokerage firm CLSA has reversed its early tactical shift from Indian equities to Chinese stocks, and has decided to raise India allocation while cutting exposure to China. In its report titled 'Pouncing Tiger, Prevaricating Dragon', CLSA cited challenges facing Chinese markets in the aftermath of Donald Trump's victory in the US elections as the reason for the move. "Misfortune can happen in threes. So it has played out for Chinese equities over the past week.
Indications are that a 'preliminary agreement' may be unveiled during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US this week, with President Trump signing the final deal in India in November.
The high point of the trip will be Goyal's meeting with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on November 13, which is expected to see the USTR push India towards lower import duties in a broad range of areas.
Trump had said a comprehensive trade agreement with India would take much longer to finalise than earlier expected.
India has been the single biggest beneficiary of the decades-old US Generalized System of Preferences programme, allowing the country to export $ 5.7 billion worth of duty-free goods in 2017, according to figures from US Congress.
'As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment. It took us a few hours - and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad - to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war'
Trump said the relationship with both India as well as the country's Prime Minister Modi "is great".
The trade deal, officials say, can lead to an effective trading bloc against the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Among the major ones are fewer restrictions on market access for US medical device manufacturers, as well as access for other key products.
India will have to show more willingness to import, and since Biden will not encourage sale of oil and gas to bridge the gap, it means there has to be more meaningful duty reduction in other areas even if Delhi baulks at a Free Trade Agreement so soon after walking out of RCEP.
Reacting to Trump's latest move, China has vowed to immediately retaliate.
The Trump administration terminated India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the Generalized System of Preferences in June.
The US Trade Representative's (USTR) office will also conduct the Section 301 probe against nine others, including Austria, Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, the UK, and the EU, for levying or considering digital services taxes "discriminating against US companies".
The US president alleged that China had been indulging in tremendous intellectual property theft worth hundreds of billions of dollars on a yearly basis.
Trump threatens to impose additional $200 billion in tariffs on China, Beijing vows to retaliate
President Trump, forcefully pursuing his 'America first" policy, has previously described India as a "tariff king" for imposing "tremendously high" tariffs on American products, also expressed dissatisfaction over the US-India trade ties. "Well, we can have a trade deal with India, but I'm really saving the big deal for later on," Trump, who is scheduled to visit India on February 24 and 25, told reporters at the Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Tuesday when asked whether he expects a trade deal with India before the visit.
"I think very soon. We are doing very well. (US Trade Representative) Robert Lighthizer who is right here negotiating with India... I think, very soon we will have a trade deal," Trump told reporters when asked if there is any trade deal is expected between India and the US.
Trump will pay a state visit to India on February 24 and 25 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Wednesday said the US President's visit will be a 'very special one' and it will go a long way in further cementing India-USA friendship.
While the Trump administration wants India to lower the trade barriers and embrace "fair and reciprocal" trade, India has raised tariffs on 28 items exported from the US in retaliation to America's withdrawal of preferential access for Indian products.
The deteriorating situation in China, a market that businesses around the world rely upon for growth, has spooked investors and prompted warnings from top companies like Apple.
'China was the elephant in the Oval Office and Trump would have sensed that Modi's foreign policy architecture has become disoriented sans the US' pivot to Asia,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Incoming US President Donald Trump has assembled a core team that is -- not surprisingly -- overwhelmingly white and male.
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