India 'Tough Nut to Crack', Says USTR Greer As Govt Looks To Shield Agri Sector In Trade Deal

As India is looking to protect its agriculture sector in trade negotiations with the United States, the latter is having a hard time convincing the former to grant exemptions.

This led US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to term India a “tough nut to crack”, according to a report by Press Trust of India.

The 12-member Indian delegation concluded three-day trade talks with the US on Wednesday. The delegation, led by Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain, discussed the finer details of the deal, the contours of which were announced in February.

“India is a tough nut to crack... they’ve protected their agricultural markets for a very long time,” Greer reportedly told the Committee on Ways and Means of the US Congress on Wednesday.

“As part of this deal, they (India) 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 said.

India is also seeking preferential access to US markets as the two countries aim to raise bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

The two countries had released the framework of the free trade agreement in early February, while the text of the deal was released on February 7.

Under the deal framework, the US was to reduce tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump from 50 percent to 18 percent.

However, finalisation of the deal was put on hold after the US Supreme Court termed the Trump tariffs unconstitutional under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

After China, the US is India’s largest trading partner. The two countries had goods trade worth $149.4 billion in 2025.

The US exported goods worth $45.6 billion to India in 2025, while India exported goods worth $103.8 billion during the same period.