New Delhi, July 2 -- With just a week to go before the retaliatory tariff of 16% on imports from India to the US kick in, all possibilities remain according to officials familiar with the matter: no deal, with sensitive issues such as US exports of dairy products and agricultural produce, scuttling one; an early deal with both countries dropping sensitive items from the contours of an agreement; and, while the probability of one is low, a big trade deal, as US President Donald Trump had said time and again. The first eventuality could see the tariffs kick in (on top of 10% that came into effect in April); while the second and third could help Indian exports to the US escape them. To be sure, the people clarified, the first would not affect the larger deal that is being discussed. Negotiators of India and the US continued to talk for the sixth day in Washington to converge on a common ground with the American side showing signs of easing some of its punitive tariffs to gain duty-free access to non-sensitive Indian agriculture market, the people cited above added, requesting anonymity. "Current negotiations are focused on an interim deal with low-hanging fruits as a first approach. Both could drop sensitive items such as dairy products and GM crops concerning India, and electronics for America, to conclude an early deal. Other items could be taken up in the next rounds when negotiations for the first tranche of a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement (BTA) would start," one of them said. The ambitious 19-chapter BTA is not just about tariffs alone, he added. "It involves goods, services and investments, besides present and future strategic cooperation between the two nations."...