Senior Trump administration officials on Tuesday welcomed the India-US trade deal announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, citing increased market access for US products to the Indian market.
US agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins and trade representative Jamieson Greer argued that the deal would help America manage its roughly $46 billion trade deficit with India.
“Now, we have the deal we will finish papering it. We know the specifics. We know the details. It’s a very exciting opportunity. On the one hand, we’ll continue to maintain some level of tariff against India at 18% because we have this giant trade deficit with them but they’ve also agreed to reduce their tariffs for us on a variety of agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices, etc,” Greer said in a television interview on Tuesday.
As America’s top trade official, Greer has played a key role in negotiating the trade agreement with India along with Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch.
In addition, Greer stated that India’s average industrial tariff of 13.5% would “go to zero” on virtually all goods, while agricultural tariffs would also be cut to zero for a number of goods. Greer, however, noted that India would continue to maintain some protection on agricultural products.
“On the agricultural side, there is a vast array of agricultural goods that will go to zero. India, like every country in the world including the United States, has some protection around some certain key areas and they will continue to control that. We will continue to work on access. But, for a variety of products like tree nuts, wines, spirits, fruits and vegetables, they (tariffs) are going down to zero. This is a big win,” Greer said.
He added that the two sides have also reached an understanding that technical barriers to trade and non-tariff barriers would also be addressed. This would include a process to accept US standards, which would be a key part of the trade agreement. Greer also said the US was monitoring Indian purchases of energy from Russia and the United States.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, meanwhile, highlighted the prospect of reducing America’s $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit in India.
“Thank you @POTUS for ONCE AGAIN delivering for our American farmers. New US-India deal will export more American farm products to India’s massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America. In 2024, America’s agricultural trade deficit with India was $1.3 billion. India’s growing population is an important market for American agricultural products and today’s deal will go a long way to reducing this deficit. America First victory on top of the dozens of deals for ag,” Rollins said in a post on X.
In addition, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared an article on X suggesting that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil as part of a trade deal with India.
The India-US trade deal, which was announced late on Monday, saw the 50% tariff on India slashed to 18%, one of the lowest tariff rates for an Asian economy. In a Truth Social post, President Trump claimed that New Delhi had committed to eliminating purchases of Russian energy and to buying $500 billion worth of US technology, energy and other products. In addition, Trump stated that India had agreed to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to US exports.
However, PM Modi’s post on X announcing the terms of the deal did not make any mention of Indian commitments on Russian energy purchases or specific reductions in tariff barriers.
According to persons aware of the matter, the two sides are now expected to negotiate a joint statement before releasing the text on the deal over the near future. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday afternoon for a bilateral meeting.
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