With or without US trade deal, regulatory issues remain for both countries

The lack of an investment pact between the two has been raised by US investors for leaving their investments in India without requisite legal protection.

No matter whether India manages to sign a deal with Trump or not, both countries are also heading for a showdown on various pending issues in the regulatory space. The absence of a bilateral investment protection treaty, American concerns with India’s data localization norms and India’s attempt’s to rein in the e-commerce sector are set to become major battle arenas between the two nations once the wrangling over tariff duties ends.

The lack of an investment pact between the two has been raised by US investors for leaving their investments in India without requisite legal protection. India has decided to terminate its existing investment pacts with other countries in 2016 with the government maintaining that all future investment pacts will be negotiated under the framework of the model Bilateral Investment Treaty issued by the government in 2015.

This was meant to form the basis for individual deal agreements to be negotiated with other nations. However, four years after unilaterally terminating investment pacts in 2016, only four BITs — with Bangladesh, Belarus, Colombia, and Taiwan — have materialised. Since the negotiations are not time-bound, there’s no deadline to conclude currently ongoing talks with 11 other nations, an official said...

Piyush Goyal says most trade issues with US resolved, announcement soon

Minister bats for ‘much larger engagement’ like a bilateral trade agreement

India and the US have resolved most of their broad trade differences and the countries must look at a much larger deal like a bilateral agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

Addressing senior members of American industry at a conclave organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Piyush Goyal expressed optimism about the bilateral relationship that he said “is at their best ever now”. “We have almost resolved the broad contours of what we are going to announce. I do not see any great difficulty in closing the gap on the first announcement,” he said.

He, however, refused to give a deadline on the current trade talks taking place between the countries. “Trade negotiations are complex. You need to have a lot of back and forth, which is going on. We’ve had a little pause because all of us were busy in different areas. But it’s on track and everything is moving smoothly,” he said.

A trade arrangement with the US was expected during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s six-day visit to that country last month. However, with Modi by his side, US President Donald Trump had last month promised a trade deal with India “very soon”, with a larger deal down the line…