{"id":22765,"date":"2025-07-04T09:59:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T09:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=22765"},"modified":"2025-07-04T10:11:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T10:11:52","slug":"india-united-states-free-trade-deal-looms-on-select-agricultural-goods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/07\/04\/india-united-states-free-trade-deal-looms-on-select-agricultural-goods\/","title":{"rendered":"India-United States free trade deal looms on select agricultural goods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finalizing India-United States negotiations point to a possible free trade deal on select agricultural goods\u00a0by July 8, 2025<\/a><\/u>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, Delhi has drawn a red line on sensitive agri goods such as dairy, which it won\u2019t concede for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, bilateral exchanges keen on exempting certain\u00a0food produce and products<\/u><\/a>\u00a0had neared a breakthrough by July 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources indicate an interim agreement will hatch before the July 9 expiration of a 90-day stoppage of Trump\u2019s 26% tariffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tit for Tat Game<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Concerning which, India seeks to eliminate all extra tariffs that the Trump administration announced in April 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duty exemption for sectors outside agriculture such as clothing, ornaments and footwear could profit India upward of $4 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its turn, the United States wants a slash in duties for which India is a heavy-setter, mainly on tree nuts and dairy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also wants surtax concessions on wine, petrochemicals, some genetically modified crops and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is clear is that India might not exempt dairy, to buffer its farmers who rear the biggest herd, globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture FTA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the possible July 8 interim FTA for agriculture,  both sides are not ready to exempt all products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delhi could possibly allow free entry to only American pecans, walnuts, Pacific Northwest\u2019s apples and GM feeds<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington in its part might appease Delhi with leather duty exemption after much agitation for tax relief on the good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After interim agreements, the two sides will ramp up a holistic Bilateral Trade Agreement. Its vision is to push bilateral commerce to $500 billion in 5 years, up from the reigning $191 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the sidelines, some farmers\u2019 unions in India are averse to any inclusion of agriculture in free trade with the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such is the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) from Kerala, southern India, which feels threatened by bilateral agreements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SKM terms these deals anti-farmer and anti-labor<\/u><\/a>, and has been holding pro-farmers protests, according to The Hindu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the looming landmark will work out and whether it will rival that between India and the UK<\/u><\/a> in May 2025 remains unclear. The below data paints a clearer picture of the \u2018knowns\u2019 in India-U.S. trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India-United States Agriculture and Free Trade\u00a0Statistics\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Agricultural trade between India and the United States remains medium at a cumulative\u00a0$7 billion<\/u><\/a>\u00a0a year, per the Wiley Online Library. This is versus\u00a0$126.9 billion<\/u><\/a>\u00a0in bilateral trade in 2023, according to India\u2019s Parliament, and a vision for\u00a0$500 billion<\/u><\/a>\u00a0by 2030. There is no existing free trade area between the two big economies, which means reciprocal tariffs protect each country\u2019s farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A part of the reason for the moderate agricultural trade are high tariffs on both sides. While India has historically imposed an average 39%<\/u><\/a> on American agri-food goods, as of 2018, its ally has generally imposed 5%. This imbalance prompted a U.S.\u2019 duty reciprocation of 26% in April 2025 before a 90-day moratorium followed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How <\/strong>is the agricultural trade status between Delhi and Washington?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India and the United States have had a tumultuous trade relationship in recent years. Trade duty disagreements over bird flu led to a September 8, 2023 dispute resolution by the W<\/u>TO<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which American imports has India taxed hard historically?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of 2018, India had some of the highest import duty among nations, at\u00a032.8%<\/u><\/a>, above\u00a0the\u00a0World Trade Organization (WTO)\u2019s recommended\u00a030%.\u00a0\u00a0In 2018, U.S.\u2019 goods gained maximum tariffs, with chickpeas attracting\u00a060%<\/u><\/a>. Another hard-hit good is pecan nuts: although India conceded in April 2023 to reduce pecan import duty, it only cut it to\u00a030%\u00a0from\u00a0100%.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the key agricultural trade commodities in India-U.S. trade? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the United States exported $2.24 billion<\/u><\/a> worth of agricultural goods to India in 2024, India exported back $5.7 billion. In India\u2019s case, agri-food exports to the U.S. represent 11% of all agri exports by the country, as of 2024. Key goods include Basmati rice, dairy, leather and vegetable extracts. For the U.S., tree nuts, at $1.12 billion (2024), ethanol at $441.3 million (2024) and cotton lead agricultural exports to India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finalizing India-United States negotiations point to a possible free trade deal on select agricultural goods\u00a0by July 8, 2025.\u00a0 So far, Delhi has drawn a red line on sensitive agri goods such as dairy, which it won\u2019t concede for free.  Meanwhile, bilateral exchanges keen on exempting certain\u00a0food produce and products\u00a0had neared a breakthrough by July 4.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIndia-United States free trade deal looms on select agricultural goods - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/07\/04\/india-united-states-free-trade-deal-looms-on-select-agricultural-goods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"India-United States free trade deal looms on select agricultural goods - 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