US Pres. Trump likely to visit India from Feb 21 to 24, trade in focus

According to people familiar with the matter, as cited by Reuters, US President Trump is scheduled to travel to India between February 21 and February 24, with a day devoted to a joint public function with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Officials said that the central focus of Trump's India visit is expected to be a trade deal, and the two leaders will also discuss China, the Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan, Iran and terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

“They added that India's expectation from the interaction is the reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, which allowed zero tariffs on exports worth $5.6 billion to the US. India is likely to roll back its retaliatory tariffs post the withdrawal of GSP. While the US wants India to buy around USD $6 billion worth of farm goods in order to cut down the trade deficit, New Delhi would like to get assurances on oil or shale gas to strike the deal,” per Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, USD/INR extends its overnight consolidative mode around 71.45 region, as the Asian currencies continue to remain under pressure on account of the China coronavirus spread, which benefits the safe-haven US dollar.