Vol. 12, Issue : 2
February 2020
Modi Prepares to Welcome Trump
President Trump is expected to swoop into India
for a full-fledged visit in the last week of February.
Hectic preparations are going on to finalise the tour
details as well as the trade deal, which is considered
as the precursor of free Trade Agreement between
the two countries and pegged at $ 10 billion. Both
the leaders are meeting at a time when both are
facing political turmoil in their homes. Trump is facing
impeachment proceedings and Modi is troubled with
nationwide protests of people against the policies
of his government.
On the trade front India wants restoration of
benefits under Generalised System of Preferences
(GSP) under which certain products like textiles can
enter the US duty-free. The benefits were withdrawn
in June 2019. According to the New York Times, the
Trump administration is obsessed with the overall
American trade deficit and wants India to buy more
American goods. Before granting any concessions
under GSP, the US wants India to buy billions of
dollars of American turkeys, blueberries, apples,
pecans and most importantly genetically modified
animal feed. India has tentatively agreed during the
talks between the delegations to end price caps on
imported medical devises like heart stents, artificial
knee replacements. The finance Minister reduced
tariffs on import of medical devices in the present
budget.
The prospects of improving foreign trade for
India are bleak. After coming out of RCEP talks,
Indian government tries to renegotiate bilateral trade
agreements with members of ASEAN and Japan. But
they did not materialize as Japan and some of the
ASEAN members sought India’s joining RCEP as a
precondition to start bilateral talks. Modi’s ‘look east
policy’ seems to be faced with road block. Facing a
slowdown on exports front for several years, India is
desperate to sign a trade deal with the US and
consequently succumbs to the US pressures.
The genetically modified (GM) animal feed
emerged as a major point in India’s trade talks with
the US. This is not a small business for US. The
Indian market is estimated to reach Rs.9000 crore
by 2024 as the demand is rising. On the other hand,
according to the animal Husbandry department the
area under cultivation for animal feed is at 4% of
cropping area and has remained constant for the
past four decades. Many US companies have already
applied with Indian authorities for clearance of GM
animal feed like alfalfa. They have yet to get a green
signal.
There is a stiff resistance to the introduction of
GM seeds in India. The regulatory mechanism of
GMOs is very week and we have seen many
instances like Bt cotton wherein the government
ignored the recommendations and/or by passed
them to allow GM seeds in the name of field trials.
According to media reports, in a meeting chaired by
the Prime Minister, GM animal feed was taken up
for discussion. The animal husbandry department
said to be opposed the import of CM animal feed.
Yet the meeting directed the Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to formulate a
regulatory regime for GM animal feed (Business
Standard, 29-1-2020). The entry of GM animal feed
into India in the absence of
contd. on page 4
Organ of the Central Committee of CPI(ML)