Agreement follows d\u00e9tente between Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
\n Washington
\nThe US and India said they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, ending a months-long impasse between Narendra Modi\u2019s government and Donald Trump\u2019s administration.
\nThe confirmation of the agreement came days after Trump spoke to Modi and said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil, which had prompted his administration to impose a 50 per cent tariff on imports from India.
\nIndia will open its market to imports of most US industrial goods and some food products. Indian exports to the US will face an 18 per cent \u201creciprocal\u201d tariff, according to a joint statement published by New Delhi early on Saturday that sets out more details of the agreement.
\nIndia also said it \u201cintends\u201d to increase imports from the US, buying $500bn of energy, aircraft and aircraft parts, metals, technology products and coking coal over the coming five years. The target would be roughly double India\u2019s current level of imports from the US.
\nThe two sides also agreed to address non-tariff barriers affecting trade, with India vowing to remove \u201crestrictive import licensing procedures\u201d, a longtime irritant in the two countries\u2019 commercial ties.\u00a0
\nThe US and India last year agreed to work towards a bilateral trade pact during a visit by Modi to Washington, but the talks stalled and both sides\u2019 positions hardened, including over India\u2019s resistance to opening its big agricultural market.
\nThe Trump administration then put a 50 per cent tariff on India, including a 25 per cent levy because of New Delhi\u2019s purchases of Russian oil, which the US said was helping to finance the war in Ukraine.\u00a0
\nIn an executive order published late on Friday in the US, Trump said India \u201chas committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil\u201d, committed to buy US energy products and recently agreed to expand defence co-operation with the US.
\nThe president had \u201cdetermined to eliminate the additional ad valorem rate of duty imposed on imports\u201d from India, the order said.
\nThe order said the US would \u201cmonitor whether India resumes directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil\u201d and that if it found it did, would consider taking \u201cadditional action\u201d, including reimposing the 25 per cent levy.
\nThe Modi government has not given details of how it will end purchases of oil from Russia. While imports have fallen, Russia remains India\u2019s largest supplier of crude.
\n\u201cGreat news for India and USA!\u201d Modi declared in a post on X. \u201cWe have agreed on a framework for an Interim Trade Agreement between our two great nations.\u201d He thanked Trump for his \u201cpersonal commitment to robust ties between our countries\u201d.\u00a0
\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s dealmaking is unlocking one of the largest economies in the world for American workers and producers, lowering tariffs for all US industrial goods and a wide array of agricultural products,\u201d US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement.
\nDuring the trade talks, India took a hard line on protecting its politically sensitive foodgrain and dairy markets.
\nHowever, in the joint statement, India said it would remove or reduce tariffs for a \u201cwide range of US food and agricultural products\u201d, including dried distillers\u2019 grains, red sorghum for animal feed, nuts, fruit, soya bean oil, wine, and spirits.\u00a0
\nPiyush Goyal, commerce minister, said that the understanding with the US would \u201copen a $30tn market for Indian exporters\u201d. He said the agreement with the US would \u201ccompletely protect\u201d India\u2019s sensitive agricultural and dairy products, including maize, wheat, rice, soya, poultry, milk and cheese.
\nOpposition politicians, some of whom had accused Modi of \u201csurrendering\u201d to Trump on tariffs, jumped on details of the agreement, with the Indian National Congress pointing out that India\u2019s exports would face higher duties in the US than before.
\n\u201cAll the hugs and photo-ops have not amounted to much,\u201d Jairam Ramesh, the party\u2019s spokesman wrote on X. \u201cNamaste Trump has scored over Howdy Modi.\u201d
\nMahua Moitra, an MP with the All India Trinamool Congress claimed that Modi \u201cmakes India SurrenderLand\u201d and called attention to Washington\u2019s assertion that it would \u201cmonitor\u201d India\u2019s buying of Russian oil.
\nThe breakthrough on trade came after India and the EU concluded a trade agreement last month, the latest of a string of trade deals agreed by New Delhi in a significant opening of its long-protected market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Agreement follows d\u00e9tente between Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Washington The US and India said they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, ending a months-long impasse between Narendra Modi\u2019s government and Donald Trump\u2019s administration. The confirmation of the agreement came days after Trump spoke to Modi and said India […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n