'Agri, dairy completely protected': Piyush Goyal says India has got a 'very good' deal with US

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India has ensured that the interests of its sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors are "completely protected" in the trade deal with the United States.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump announced a cut in tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18%, and said both sides had agreed to a trade deal.

Goyal said a joint statement will be issued by both countries soon that will spell out the details of the pact. He assured that the deal will provide "huge opportunities" for Indians and "will protect the sensitive sectors, the interests of our agriculture and our dairy sectors in full respect".

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always protected both the agriculture and dairy sectors. He has safeguarded their interests and has continuously worked to ensure that people in these sectors get a bright future, more opportunities, and higher incomes," the minister said. "...and even in the US trade deal, India's sensitive sectors - particularly agriculture and dairy - have been protected."

Earlier today, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins suggested that American farm products have gained fresh market access in India under the new trade deal. She called the deal as a win for US farmers and said: "New US-India deal will export more American farm products to India's massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America."

The commerce minister said the trade deal is expected to create new openings for labour-intensive export sectors such as textiles, plastics, apparel, home decor, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, organic chemicals, rubber goods, machineries and aircraft. He added that import duty on most of these segments in the US market would come down to 18% from the present 50%.

Goyal said the trade deal is in the final stages, and a joint statement will be issued shortly detailing the contours of the agreement.

The minister said that India is a fast-growing and large economy, and demand is continuously increasing for goods such as ICT products, data center equipment, high-quality technology and innovation items, and raw materials. "And in that situation, this deal also opens up opportunities for India to get the best-in-class, world-class technologies to further power the India growth story," he told reporters.

He added that India has got a "very good" trade deal with the US, better than the competitors of India.

India's 18% tariff is lower than key Asian rivals such as China, Vietnam (20 per cent), Malaysia (19 per cent), Bangladesh (20 per cent), Cambodia and Thailand (19 per cent each).

The US has agreed to remove the 25% punitive tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil, and reciprocal tariffs have been brought down to 18% from 25%, news agency PTI reported, citing sources. "So, the final tariffs on India will be 18 per cent," a source said.

Sources also said India has agreed to provide duty concessions broadly in the same manner as it has done in other free trade agreements (FTAs). They said duties will be eliminated in some areas on the day the agreement comes into force, phased out over time in others, reduced in certain sectors, and provided through quota-based concessions in some categories.

India has traditionally kept sensitive farm-linked areas outside the scope of trade agreements. These include dairy, rice, wheat, meat, poultry, cereals, GM foods, soymeal and maize.

On Trump's claim that India had committed to buy $500 billion worth of American goods - including energy, technology, agricultural items, coal and other products - sources said the figure is spread over five years and would include purchases of aircraft and parts. "We will be importing goods worth $50-55 billion, for data centres alone, we will need goods worth $20 billion a year," the official said.