Congress flags concerns as India-US negotiate trade deal

New Delhi: With an economic think tank stating that India should avoid rushing into a trade deal with the US, the Congress on Monday warned against MASALA -- Mutually Agreed Settlements Achieved through Leveraged Arm-twisting -- deals, and said in "our desire to curry favour, we have to be very careful".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Earlier there have been Masala Bonds issued by companies outside India but denominated in rupees. The International Finance Corporation did so in 2014 and 2015 and HDFC and NTPC followed a year later."

Now the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Institute (GTRI) has sounded a warning on the trade deal being negotiated by India with the US, he said in a post on X.

"Given the totally arbitrary and frankly bizarre manner in which President Trump functions, GTRI has now drawn attention to what it calls MASALA (Mutually Agreed Settlements Achieved through Leveraged Arm-twisting) deals," Ramesh said.

Clearly the prime minister's "acronym-itis bug" is proving infectious but while it may be in a colourful language the warning cannot be ignored, he said.

"In our desire to curry favour, we have to be very, very careful. President Trump has spoken 21 times since May 10th on how he used MASALA to get Operation Sindoor to abruptly stop," Ramesh said.

His remarks came after experts said India should avoid rushing into a trade deal with the US that compromises core sectors like agriculture. They cautioned that Washington is not sparing even its key partners like the EU.

The US has shot off letters to 24 countries and the European Union (EU) imposing tariffs that are as high as 50 per cent on Brazil. On its key trading partners like the EU and Mexico, 30 per cent duties have been proposed from August 1.

GTRI had said India must recognise that it is not alone in facing US pressure.

The US is currently negotiating with over 20 countries and seeking concessions from more than 90.

"Yet most are resisting because they see these MASALA (Mutually Agreed Settlements Achieved through Leveraged Arm-twisting) deals for what they are politically driven, transactional demands offering no lasting trade certainty," GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said.

He added that both the EU and Mexico are major trade partners of the US, and Washington can impose tariffs on them to pressure them into quick deals, India cannot expect a balanced deal.

Another trade expert said India should tread cautiously while negotiating the trade pact with the US.

From Japan and South Korea to the EU and Australia, countries are resisting Trump's trade deals that demand tariff cuts without reciprocal US concessions, mandate guaranteed purchases of American goods, and leave the door open for future tariffs even after a deal is signed, the GTRI said.

A team of Indian trade negotiators will soon visit Washington to further talks for the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

"India should stay the course and avoid trading away core sectors like agriculture. A hasty deal under pressure could have irreversible consequences, especially when such agreements may not survive the next shift in US politics," Srivastava said.