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.
'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 had said a comprehensive trade agreement with India would take much longer to finalise than earlier expected.
The trade deal, officials say, can lead to an effective trading bloc against the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Reacting to Trump's latest move, China has vowed to immediately retaliate.
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 said the relationship with both India as well as the country's Prime Minister Modi "is great".
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.
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.
Trump threatens to impose additional $200 billion in tariffs on China, Beijing vows to retaliate
"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.
The Trump administration terminated India's designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the Generalized System of Preferences in June.
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.
The US president alleged that China had been indulging in tremendous intellectual property theft worth hundreds of billions of dollars on a yearly basis.
Incoming US President Donald Trump has assembled a core team that is -- not surprisingly -- overwhelmingly white and male.
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