Editor’s Note
This article reports on the finalization of a trade agreement between India and the United States, outlining key tariff provisions. The details are based on official announcements.
The structure of the trade deal between India and the United States has been finalized. US President Donald Trump has also signed it. Following this, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held a press conference on Saturday and outlined the key points of this deal. After this deal, the maximum tariff on goods exported from India to the US will be 18%. Meanwhile, under the trade deal, many items have also been kept tariff-free.
Prioritizing the interests of farmers, Piyush Goyal said that this agreement will provide Indian agricultural products access to the US market without any additional duties. At the same time, it has also been ensured that this does not cause any harm to the country’s farmers.
He informed that products like tea, spices, coffee, coconut oil, copra, and vegetable wax will face no import duty in the US. Additionally, many fruits, vegetables, and agricultural products such as bananas, mangoes, guavas, avocados, kiwis, papayas, pineapples, mushrooms, root vegetables, cereals, barley, bakery products, cocoa products, sesame, poppy seeds, and citrus fruit juices will also reach the US market without any duties.
Goyal reiterated that the government has not taken any step that would hurt the interests of farmers.
Goyal stated that nearly $13 billion worth of medicine exports from India will also face zero-duty in the US.
Gems and jewellery exports will also get duty-free access, along with many other high-value products.
Looking towards the future, Goyal said that smartphones exported from India will also have zero-duty in the future. He also informed that duties on many other Indian exports will be reduced to zero.
These include aircraft and machinery parts, generic medicines and pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds from Bengal, Kerala, and Maharashtra, coins, platinum, watches, essential oils, and some home decor items like chandeliers, seeds, inorganic chemicals, and compounds. Goyal clarified that there will be no countervailing duties on these products. He said that now the duty on these in the US will be zero.
Earlier, Piyush Goyal had stated that the India-US trade deal includes items like dairy products, fruits, vegetables, spices, and cereals. All of these have been safeguarded in such a way that our country’s farmers do not suffer any loss. He wrote on X that this agreement is a very big step towards making India self-reliant. He said that this deal has taken care of the welfare of farmers and will lead to the country’s development.
Frozen vegetables like potatoes, peas, cucumber, and gherkin. Additionally, beans, other legumes (shelled or unshelled), temporarily preserved vegetables like cucumber and mushrooms (Agaricus species), and mixed canned vegetables. These cannot be imported.
Dairy products like milk (liquid, powder, candied, etc.), cheese (mozzarella, blue vein, grated/powder, etc.), cream, butter oil, yogurt, paneer and other products, buttermilk, whey products, etc., butter and ghee.
Cereals including ragi, wheat, copra, samak, maize, millet, rice, barley, oats, sorghum, fine flour, and flour (wheat, maize, rice, millet, etc.).
Spices including black pepper, long pepper, dried green chili, cinnamon (bark, flower, etc.), coriander, cumin, asafoetida, ginger, turmeric, carom seeds, fenugreek, cassia, mustard, rye, husk, and other ground spices.
Some information has also emerged from the US side. The White House stated that India will eliminate or reduce taxes on industrial goods coming from the US. Additionally, taxes on many types of food and agricultural products from the US will also be reduced. These include products like dried distillers grains (DDG), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, alcohol, and spirits.