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Trump lands in India for first official trip

The US is one of India's most important trade partners.

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by bbc news

News24 February 2020 - 09:31
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In Summary


• Crowds have filled the stadium in Ahmedabad where Trump will address a rally with Indian PM Narendra Modi.

• Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of Ahmedabad, Modi's political hometown, to greet Trump.

US President Donald Trump has arrived in India where is expected to receive a massive public reception at a cricket stadium in the state of Gujarat.

Crowds have filled the stadium in Ahmedabad where Mr Trump will address a rally with Indian PM Narendra Modi.

Tens of thousands of people have lined the streets of Ahmedabad, Mr Modi's political hometown, to greet Mr Trump.

But amid the fanfare, a much-talked about trade deal is unlikely to happen during the visit.

The US is one of India's most important trade partners, with bilateral trade totalling $142.6bn (£110.3bn) in 2018. The US had a $25.2bn goods and services trade deficit with India, its 9th largest trading partner in goods.

Despite growing political and strategic ties, there's been tension over trade issues. Mr Trump has said India's tariffs - taxes on imports - are "unacceptable", and has described India as the "king" of tariffs.

In June 2019, the US ended preferential trade status for India, the largest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) - a scheme that allows some goods to enter the US duty-free.

The move caused a diplomatic rift between the two countries after India imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US products.

An official US report last year said India's tariff rates on other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) remain "the highest of any major economy".

The two sides have also differed over price controls on medical equipment and India's new rules on data storage.

The trade deal was likely to resolve some of these issues. But just days before the visit, Mr Trump announced that he was "saving the big deal for later on".

Reports say negotiations continued between the two sides until last week, but they were not able to reach a consensus on issues like the restoration of the GSP for Indian goods, and India agreeing to open some of its key markets for US goods.

Despite this, Mr Trump and Mr Modi appear to have forged a good personal relationship: the two leaders addressed a rare mass rally for a foreign leader billed as "Howdy, Modi!" which was attended by 50,000 Indians living in Houston last year.

This time, Mr Modi is pulling out all the stops to fete the US president at a similar public extravaganza - a "Hello Trump" reception in a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat.

"We're not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot. And he told me we'll have seven million people between the airport and the event," Mr Trump has said, referring to the planned reception.

Mr Trump tweeted in Hindi shortly before he landed, stating that he was eager to visit India.

Mr Modi quickly responded with a popular Sanskrit phrase which translates to "the guest is god".

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