It ain’t over until it’s over. It appears to be the case for the US-India trade deal, which was announced by President Donald Trump nearly 10 days ago, as it still seems to be undergoing key changes before the final signing around mid-March. The Trump administration has now quietly revised its fact sheet after certain terms on pulses and a $500 billion purchase “commitment” diverged from the officially released US-India joint statement, which created confusion and invited criticism from the opposition. However, the White House now appears to be removing the irritants, indicating that backchannel talks are still ongoing, and India may extract some additional concessions.
The original version of the fact sheet was released on Monday. However, within 24 hours, it was revised. Media reports indicated that the US walked back on certain terms and wordings that the countries did not agree on after a nudge from the Narendra Modi government. Stay with us, and we will break down the key changes that the White House made, giving India more leverage.
The major revision made in the US trade deal fact sheet pertains to tariffs on pulses. The initial fact sheet mentioned that India would reduce or do away with tariffs on certain US pulses.
“India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of 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 stated.
However, the revised paragraph in the fact sheet no longer mentions pulses. Agricultural imports, particularly pulses, are sensitive for India’s farm sector and have been a red line during trade deal negotiations. Besides, India is also the world’s largest producer (about 25-28% of global production) and consumer of pulses.
Notably, a couple of months back, amid an impasse in trade talks, two US senators wrote to Trump to press India to remove a 30% import duty on US pulses. The duty, which came into effect from November 1, was widely seen as a retaliation for the crippling 50% tariffs imposed by Trump last year. That, however, has now been reduced to 18% as part of the trade deal.
WHAT CAN WE CONCLUDE?
In such high-profile trade agreements, even small changes or revisions in wording matter and can have diplomatic and economic consequences. In this case, the previous White House fact sheet clearly overstated India’s obligations under the trade deal. However, India is not one to hold back.
With the changes in the US fact sheet now rolled back, the official position on the trade deal is clear — India made no commitment to the US on pulses, and there is no binding requirement to import products worth $500 billion.
However, both sides are yet to clear a key point made by Trump — the pledge by India to stop Russian oil purchases. It will likely be cleared in the coming days. We will be the first to let you know.
