Eyes on Indo-US trade deal

13-Nov-2025 08:47 PM

New Delhi. After five rounds of negotiations, the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the United States is now on the verge of being signed. India has clarified its position on this matter, and the US response is now awaited.

The US President has also stated that the trade agreement is almost nearing completion and everything is proceeding as planned.

With the implementation of this bilateral trade agreement, the US may announce the withdrawal of the additional 25 percent customs duty imposed on imports of Indian products, which will benefit both countries.

The US President has already hinted at this. He said that India has significantly reduced petroleum imports from Russia. The additional tariff increase was imposed on this condition, which has now been fulfilled.

Further, it will be interesting to see how India handles the US pressure to fully open the Indian market to soybeans, corn, and dairy products. Currently, nothing has been said on this matter by either side.

In fact, China has assured to resume imports of American soybeans, which has provided relief to the US, and therefore, it will not try to put too much pressure on India for soybean imports. A similar situation exists with corn.

After the imposition of a 50 percent tariff on Indian products, inflation in the US increased, and ordinary citizens began to face difficulties.

The President was aware of this, so it is natural that he may have considered abandoning the doggedness of pressure. If the 50 percent tariff is reduced to 20-25 percent, India's exports of spices, including black pepper, and cashews to the US could increase significantly.