White House softens stance on India-US trade agreement factsheet

The White House has updated its factsheet on the India-US trade framework, softening language on India's commitments on purchases, tariffs, and digital trade following the announcement of an interim reciprocal trade agreement.

The White House has updated its factsheet on the India-US trade framework a day after its initial release, softening several key assertions related to India's commitments on purchases, tariffs, and digital trade.

The revisions come after last week's announcement of a framework for an interim reciprocal trade agreement aimed at boosting bilateral commerce. The framework for the Interim Agreement was finalised following a phone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.

Key Revisions to Trade Factsheet

In the original version of the factsheet, it was stated, "India committed to buy more American products and purchase over USD 500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products." The revised factsheet now says India "intends" to buy more American products and omits the term "agricultural" from the list of product categories.

Changes were also made in the tariff section. The earlier document noted, "India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products." The updated version removes the reference to "certain pulses" from this list.

On digital trade, the initial factsheet mentioned, "India will remove its digital services taxes" and "committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade." The current version drops the claim that "India will remove its digital services taxes" and retains only that "India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules."

Broader Agreement Details

Under the proposed arrangement, the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the current 50 per cent.

As part of the broader engagement, US President Donald Trump has removed the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on India in August last year over purchases of Russian oil, noting that New Delhi has committed to stopping direct or indirect imports of oil from Moscow and has undertaken "significant steps" in this direction.

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