Food and drink feature in the interim trade agreement between the US and India but the finer details and tariff terms have yet to be fully ironed out.
A joint declaration from the two governments on Friday (6 February) and a further endorsement by the White House yesterday (9 February) stated the parties had “reached a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade”.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Friday’s statement said India will “eliminate or reduce tariffs” on some US food and agricultural products such as fresh and processed fruit, wine and spirits, soybean oil and tree nuts.
Unspecified “additional products” are also included, along with “all US industrial goods”.
A full list of the US food and beverage items that will benefit from the deal will no doubt be keenly awaited from the side of President Trump but farmer organisations in India have already reportedly put out the rallying cry for protests.
In turn, Trump said in a White House statement yesterday that he would remove the 25% tariff on Indian imports imposed as a penalty for Prime Minister Narendra Modi continuing to purchase oil from Russia.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThat was agreed in “recognition of India’s commitment to stop purchasing Russian Federation oil”, the statement read.
Separately, the US will lower the so-called reciprocal tariff on India goods – imposed by Trump on dozens of countries as part of his widespread attack on unfair trade – from 25% to 18%, effectively cutting rates for India from 50%.
Meanwhile, India has committed to buy more US products worth in excess of $500bn within sectors listed as energy, information and communication technology, agriculture, coal, and “other products”.
As Just Food and its sister publication Just Drinks await a response for comment on the framework agreement from the Consumer Brands Association in the US, a trade body in the spirits category was optimistic.
Speaking in the context of India’s tariff cuts on Bourbon almost a year ago, and the more recent trade agreements struck by the EU and the UK with the Asian country, the chief of the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) offered an assessment.
“Last year’s tariff reduction on US spirits imports to India was an important first step that opened new opportunities for Bourbon producers in the world’s largest whiskey market,” DISCUS president and CEO Chris Swonger said in a statement.
“With India now reaching agreements with the EU and the UK to significantly reduce tariffs on their spirits, we are hopeful that this new US-India agreement will secure comparable tariff reductions across all categories of US distilled spirits, ensuring fair and competitive access to the Indian marketplace.”
Meanwhile, the US and India jointly said they will “promptly implement this framework and work towards finalising the interim agreement”.
The statement from the White House yesterday added: “In line with the roadmap set out in the terms of reference for the BTA [bilateral trade agreement], the United States and India will continue negotiations to address the remaining tariff barriers, additional non-tariff barriers, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, trade remedies, services and investment, intellectual property, labour, environment, government procurement, and trade-distorting or unfair practices of state-owned enterprises.”
Over in India, farmer organisations, including Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), have pledged to hold nationwide protests on Thursday (12 February) in opposition to the trade agreement, according to local media.
The New Indian Express cited a statement from the SKM calling for the resignation of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal amid what the trade body said was a “total surrender” of Indian agriculture.
SKM urged Prime Minister Modi not to sign the US agreement, while the AIKS said the impact of the trade deal could spread beyond agriculture into dairy.
