India-US Trade Deal: The White House quietly revised its fact sheet on the "key terms" of the "historic" India-US trade framework, dropping the claim that New Delhi would reduce tariffs on "certain pulses" and softening language regarding a $500 billion purchase "commitment."
These amendments are particularly significant because agricultural imports, especially pulses, remain a highly sensitive issue for India’s domestic farm sector.
Key Changes On India-US Trade Deal Fact Sheet
Pulses Dropped From List
The updated fact sheet, issued after the original version was released on Monday, drops the mention of “certain pulses” from the list of agricultural products on which India agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs.
The earlier version read, "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, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products”. The revised version drops the mention of "certain pulses" from the list.
'Intends' Instead Of 'Commits'
Another significant change involves softening the language regarding the $500 billion purchase commitment. The earlier version stated that New Delhi “commits” to buying over $500 billion worth of US products. In the revised version, that has been softened to state that India “intends to buy”. The word “agricultural” was also removed from the product purchase list.
The initial version released on Monday read, "India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products." However, the updated version stated that India "intends" to buy more American goods.
Digital Trade Tax
The White House further revised the fact sheet by removing the claim that India "will remove its digital services taxes". The updated version stated that "India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules…"
The original fact sheet read, “India will remove its digital services taxes” and “committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade”. The updated version no longer says India will remove its digital services taxes and states that “India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules…"