Bilateral Trade Deal to Move US Manufacturing to India: Ex-Trump Adviser

The planned Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the United States and India—signed by former US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—is set to give Washington a boost in its bid to relocate part of its manufacturing from China to India. As per Mark Linscott, former Assistant US Trade Representative (AUSTR) in Trump's first term, the step would be a major contribution towards the protection of the US supply chain.

The present Trump administration is considered to be as dedicated to promoting "friendshoring"—a term coined in the Biden administration—as the previous one. Reliable trade partners, such as India, are being given priority for enhancing economic and strategic relationships. "The relocation of supply chains, especially when so much manufacturing has been embedded in China, takes time," Linscott said.

Linscott, also a former US trade representative for South and Central Asian Affairs from December 2016 to December 2018 and a representative of the US at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO), is now a senior trade adviser with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

The BTA is projected to resolve longstanding trade irritants and issues pertaining to both tariff and non-tariff barriers that have retarded trade between the two nations. It is projected that problems of both sides will be resolved, allowing for smoother movement of goods and services.

By establishing a more amenable trade atmosphere, the deal is thought to promote additional shifting of production from China to India in the long run. Linscott, who is also a senior adviser at The Asia Group (TAG), underscored that both sides' trade barriers could be settled through bilateral negotiations under the intended agreement.

Mark Linscott, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, said that both the American and Indian industries are keen for the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) to be completed, expressing dismay at the Biden administration's inability to boost bilateral trade.

Linscott mentioned that the Trump administration had earlier approved a BTA with India, and this presented an opportunity for India to attract American resources. He proposed that the BTA would assist in the realization of the $500 billion target of bilateral trade that had been established under the Barack Obama administration in 2014 if negotiated properly.