New York/Washington: The US said India will lower tariffs on a “vast array” of American industrial and agricultural goods, such as “fruits, vegetables”, to zero percent under the trade deal announced by President Donald Trump.
The US described this as a “big win” while noting that India will continue to control “certain key areas” that enjoy protection.
“This is it. The time has come, and now we have the deal. We’ll finish papering it, but we know the specifics. We know the details. It’s a very exciting opportunity,” United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Tuesday in an interview to CNBC Squawk Box.
Greer said that the US will continue to maintain some level of tariff against India – 18 per cent – “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. It’s an exciting opportunity for both countries,” he said.
Giving details of the deal, Greer added that with India right now, on industrial goods, the average tariff is about 13.5 per cent.
“That’s going to go to zero for virtually everything. When I say virtually, I mean 98-99%. On the agricultural side, there’s a vast, vast array of agricultural goods. So it will go to zero,” he said.
“India, like every country in the world, including the United States, has some protection around certain key areas where they’ll continue to control that. We’ll continue to work on access. But for a variety of things, tree nuts, wine, spirits, fruits, vegetables, etc, they’re going down to zero. This is a big win,” Greer said.
Separately, the USTR said in a post on X that “India will lower tariffs on a wide array of US industrial and agricultural goods to 0%. President Trump’s historic deal with India delivers unprecedented market access for American farmers and producers.”
On the non-tariff barriers, he said that getting rid of tariffs is one thing, but often, the non-tariff barriers pose problems.
“So we have an understanding and agreement with the Indians as well on a variety of technical barriers to trade areas where they have not accepted US standards.”
