The Mother Of All Deals : EU, Canada Gave Middle Finger To Trump With India Deals

29th January 2026 at 3:21 PM

1 minute read

New Delhi : How can countries whose economies have depended on the US for decades cope with an increasingly unreliable and hostile Trump in the White House? This has been the billion-dollar question for many amid the turmoil brought upon by Trump, whose confrontational diplomacy and tactics of weaponising tariffs have alienated allies.

In fact, remarks by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) indicate how the US was now feeling increasingly isolated. There was no chest-thumping rhetoric, just disappointment. “I find the Europeans very disappointing. The Europeans were unwilling to join us… because they wanted to do this trade deal,” Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.

However, Bessent does not appear to have taken into account the grim reality. No one likes to be bullied and depend on an unpredictable partner. This mistrust and Trump’s threats over the Greenland takeover issue appear to have been a major catalyst for the EU to seal the trade deal with India, which has been under negotiation for nearly two decades.

“The Trump factor clearly helped push them over the finish line after years of talks. It’s about much more than cushioning the blow of US tariffs. That the India-EU FTA has been dubbed the “mother of all deals” is not mere rhetoric. They represent 25% of global GDP and account for nearly one-third of world trade. The deal, which will likely be signed early next year, will give India an edge in exporting labour-intensive goods hit hard by Trump’s sky-high 50% tariffs, including textiles, gems, jewellery and footwear.

This signals that the India-EU deal was not transactional and wrapped in respect. It sent a clear message to Trump — that global powers have now started to diversify and de-risk their economies amid the volatility of US trade policy. It is here that India has made hay, quickly sealing trade pacts with the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Oman. Countries are now increasingly seeing India as a reliable, stable and indispensable trading partner.