India's firm stance on protecting its agricultural markets has led a US trade representative to describe the country as a 'tough nut to crack' during ongoing bilateral trade negotiations.
Key Points
- US Trade Representative describes India as a 'tough nut to crack' due to its protection of agricultural markets.
- India and the US are engaged in bilateral trade agreement negotiations, aiming for USD 500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
- Discussions include specific commodities like DDGs (distillers dried grains) for livestock feed.
- India seeks preferential access to US markets as part of the trade agreement.
- The US Supreme Court ruling against reciprocal tariffs has led India to seek a recalibration of the agreement.
India is a "tough nut to crack", United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in Washington as a delegation from New Delhi wrapped up negotiations on the bilateral trade agreement with Washington.
The 12-member delegation, led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, held talks on the fine print of the trade deal with the US team led by Brendan Lynch, Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia.
The three-day talks concluded on Wednesday.
Challenges in India-US Trade Negotiations
"India is a tough nut to crack... they've protected their agricultural markets for a very long time," Greer told the Committee on Ways and Means of the US Congress on Wednesday.
"As part of this deal, they want to protect a lot of that. There are things, though, where I think we can find mutual agreement. DDGs (distillers dried grains) is a good example of this," he said.
Greer was responding to questions by lawmakers on exports of DDGs, which are used as high-protein livestock feed, soybean meal and ethanol.
Key Issues: DDGs and Market Access
The USTR said the US negotiators were discussing specific issues, such as DDGs, with their counterparts from India.
"Indian trade negotiators are in town this week. So we've been talking this week about these issues, including these specific commodities you talked about, DDGs," Greer said.
India and the US announced the framework of the bilateral trade agreement on February 2 and released the text of the deal on February 7.
India's Objectives and Tariff Adjustments
India is seeking preferential access to the US markets as part of the agreement, as the two countries eye the target of achieving bilateral trade of USD 500 billion by 2030.
According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent, from 50 per cent. It had removed the 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods for buying Russian oil and was to cut the remaining 25 per cent to 18 per cent under the pact.
Impact of US Supreme Court Ruling
But on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against Trump's reciprocal tariffs, which were imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In the wake of the Supreme Court order, India is seeking to recalibrate and redraft the agreement to ensure that its interests are protected under the new global tariff framework.
