White House releases fact sheet on India-US trade deal amid confusion over Russian oil, zero tariffs

Donald Trump’s administration on Monday described the India-US trade deal as a “historic” step that will open the Indian market, home to more than 1.4 billion people, to American products, according to the White House.

New Delhi and Washington are in the final stages of signing a trade deal that both sides describe as “historic”. But despite the announcement, many claims made by both countries were left unaddressed, especially US President Donald Trump’s claims that India would stop buying Russian oil and impose zero tariffs on US goods.

Amid the questions and uncertainty, the White House released a fact sheet addressing these issues on Monday.

The statement clarifies many aspects of the agreement, especially President Trump’s claims and related issues.

Let’s understand what the White House said in the briefing.

Is India stopping buying Russian oil?

According to the information note published by the Trump administration, the US President accepted New Delhi’s commitment to stop oil purchases from Russia and agreed to remove the 25% additional customs duty on Indian imports.

Regarding this, Donald Trump also signed an Executive Order eliminating the additional 25% tariff.

However, confusion arose after Russia said that it had not received any information from India about stopping oil purchases from Russia.

Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs reiterated that ensuring the energy security of its 1.4 billion people remains the top priority of the Indian government.

Will India reduce tariffs on US goods to zero?

While announcing a trade deal on February 2, Donald Trump claimed that India had agreed to reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US goods to Zero.

“India agreed to either eliminate or reduce its tariffs on all U.S. industrial products and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products, including dried distillers grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, some legumes, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and supplements,” according to the joint statement.

The information note published by the White House also supported this statement, but the specific details of the customs duties that India will impose on US goods have not yet been announced.

Mutual tariff reduced from 25% to 18%

The White House said the US will reduce reciprocal tariffs on India from 25% to 18% in light of India’s willingness to work with the US to address structural imbalances in bilateral trade and shared national security concerns.

The briefing note also stated that India will address non-tariff barriers affecting bilateral trade in priority areas.

The statement further stated: “In accordance with the roadmap set out in BTA’s Terms of Reference, the United States and India will continue negotiations to address remaining tariff barriers, additional non-tariff barriers, technical barriers to trade, customs and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, trade solutions, services and investment, intellectual property, workforce, environment, government procurement, and trade-distorting or unfair practices of state-owned enterprises.”