As negotiators from India and the United States wrapped up their three-day talks in Washington for finalising a formal trade agreement, India appears to be holding its ground and negotiating from a position
of strength with US trade representative Jamieson Greer saying that New Delhi is a “tough nut to crack”.
Greer’s remarks came after the 12-member delegation, led by Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Darpan Jain, held talks on the fine print of the trade deal with the US team led by Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, news agency PTI reported.
“India is a tough nut to crack… they’ve protected their agricultural markets for a very long time,” Greer told the Committee on Ways and Means of the US Congress, as reported by the news agency.
“As part of this deal, they want to protect a lot of that. There are things, though, where I think we can find mutual agreement. DDGs (distillers dried grains) is a good example of this,” he added.
Greer was answering lawmakers’ questions about exports like DDGs (a high-protein animal feed), soybean meal, and ethanol. He said US trade officials have been discussing these specific products with Indian counterparts, who are in Washington this week.
“Indian trade negotiators are in town this week. So we’ve been talking this week about these issues, including these specific commodities you talked about, DDGs,” Greer added.
The negotiations were aimed at ironing out tariff disputes, expanding market access, and finalising elements of a broader trade pact. The deal is expected to cover sectors such as energy, technology, agriculture, and digital trade, while addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory hurdles.
The latest developments came after both countries announced on February 7 that they had agreed on a framework for an interim arrangement focused on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade terms.
The framework reaffirmed the commitment of both sides to continue working toward a broader bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
The negotiations for the BTA were initiated by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, with the objective of improving market access and strengthening economic cooperation between the two nations.
US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor also confirmed that an Indian trade delegation would be visiting the United States this week for discussions related to the BTA.
In a post on X, he described the expected agreement as mutually beneficial.
“The Indian trade delegation will be arriving in Washington this week. A great step to finalise our bilateral trade deal. A win-win for both nations!” he wrote.
India is seeking preferential access to the US markets as part of the agreement, as the two countries eye the target of achieving bilateral trade of USD 500 billion by 2030. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent, from 50 per cent. It had removed the 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods for buying Russian oil and was to cut the remaining 25 per cent to 18 per cent under the pact.
(With inputs from agencies)
