After Trump’S ‘Zero Tariff’ Claim… WH releases factsheet on US deal

Washington: The Donald Trump administration has termed the new India-United States trade deal a “historic” step, which, according to the WH, will open the Indian market of over 1.4 billion people to American products. The White House has also released a statement defining the key terms of the deal, under which the US has agreed to lower the reciprocal tariff on India from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.

The statement brought clarity on several aspects of the deal, especially on President Trump’s claim of India agreeing to cut “tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the United States to ZERO”. It also specified that Trump has agreed to remove the additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports in recognition of New Delhi’s commitment to stop purchasing Russian oil.

The White House said that India has agreed to “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.”

It noted that India has committed to buying more American products and purchasing over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural coal, and other products. The statement stressed that New Delhi has also agreed to address non-tariff barriers that affect bilateral trade in priority areas.

Moreover, India will also remove its digital services taxes and has committed to negotiating a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade, including rules that prohibit the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions.

The statement added that the United States and India have also agreed to “negotiate rules of origin that ensure that the agreed benefits accrue predominantly to the United States and India.” Both nations were also committed to strengthening economic security alignment to enhance supply chain resilience and innovation through complementary actions to address non-market policies of third parties, as well as cooperating on inbound and outbound investment reviews and export controls,” it said.