India-US Trade Deal: Double good news for India, learn the latest update on the $500 billion clause

New Delhi. Major news has arrived regarding the India-US trade deal. Following Donald Trump’s announcement of the deal, he signed an executive order last week. The US also quietly made significant amendments to the factsheet released just a day later, which is a huge relief for India, or rather, good news for India. The biggest change is that India’s purchase of $500 billion worth of US goods under the deal has been changed from a commitment to an intention or plan. Meaning, it is not binding.

US quietly makes amendments
Just a day after the White House released the India-US trade deal factsheet, it has quietly revised the terms and conditions of the agreement. One of the key changes is that India’s condition for purchasing US products worth more than US$500 billion was previously described as “Committed,” but now this wording has been changed to “Intent to Purchase,” making this agreement even more comforting for India.

What was in the previously released factsheet?
It is noteworthy that after the release of the India-US Trade Deal framework, the White House released a factsheet on Tuesday highlighting the key terms of the agreement. It stated that India would eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products.

It also stated that India had committed to purchasing more US products and purchasing US energy, IT, agriculture, coal, and other products worth more than US$500 billion. This condition has now been changed.

Pulses excluded from the list!
According to information available on the US White House website, another major amendment has been made, which is particularly comforting for India. In fact, the word “agriculture” has been removed from the list of product categories applicable under the deal. Some items, including some pulses, have been removed from the tariff cut list.

An earlier version of the India-US Trade Deal Factsheet stated that India would eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDG), red sorghum, nuts, fresh and processed fruits, some pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and other products.

This major change was also made
Another significant change in the new and revised factsheet is that, unlike before, it no longer states that India will eliminate its digital services tax. Instead, it states that India is committed to negotiating a set of strong bilateral digital trade rules. An earlier version mentioned that India would remove its digital services taxes.