New Delhi: In a new twist in regards to the recently announced trade agreement between India and the United States, the Donald Trump administration has made several important changes in its fact sheet related to this deal. The biggest change is the removal of the mention of pulses. Besides this, the language regarding India’s purchase of 500 billion dollars has also been changed. Earlier, it was described as a firm commitment, but now it is being described only as an intent.
The White House has removed ‘pulses’ from a list of US products on which it said India will levy zero or slash tariffs, in a revised fact sheet issued on the interim trade deal.
The new fact sheet released by the White House shows that earlier claims have been modified. Earlier, it was said that India would reduce taxes on US agricultural products and pulses were also mentioned in this. However, the new fact sheet has completely removed the mention of pulses. This indicates that India-US trade agreement has not been finalised on this issue.
The White House on Monday had released a fact sheet on ‘The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal (Interim Agreement),’ days after India and the US announced in a joint statement the framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
The earlier version of the fact sheet had stated India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, ‘certain pulses’, soybean oil, dried distillers’ grains, wine and spirits, and additional products.
From Commitment to Intent: The $500 Billion US Purchase
The fact sheet had also mentioned said that India was committed to buying products worth 500 billion dollars from the U.S. However, this version has been changed to intent. That means it is no longer considered a final promise.
“India will 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, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
“India intends to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products,” the revised fact sheet said. The joint statement issued last week on the trade deal had made no mention of “pulses” in items on which India will eliminate or reduce tariffs for American products. The joint statement had also maintained that “India intends to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next 5 years,” the factsheet stated.