Mumbai: US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer on Tuesday described the India–US trade agreement as a “very exciting opportunity,” saying the two sides have agreed on the broad contours and specifics of the deal, with the formal text still being finalised. During an interview on CNBC Squawk Box, Greer said the agreement would significantly expand market access for American exporters, while allowing India to retain protection in certain sensitive sectors.
“This is it. The time has come, and now we have the deal. We’ll finish papering it, but we know the specifics — we know the details. It’s a very exciting opportunity for both countries,” he said.
Calling the agreement a “big win,” Greer noted that the United States would continue to maintain tariffs of about 18% on Indian goods, citing the large trade deficit with India. “On the one hand, we will continue to maintain some level of tariff against India — about 18 percent — because we have this giant trade deficit with them,” he said. At the same time, India has committed to lowering tariffs on a wide range of U.S. exports. “But they’ve also agreed to reduce their tariffs for us on a variety of agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices, and so on. That really opens up market access for American exporters,” Greer said.
Highlighting the scale of the tariff reductions, he said India’s average tariff on industrial goods, currently around 13.5 per cent, would be eliminated for nearly all such products. “Right now, India’s average tariff on industrial goods is around 13.5 percent. Under this agreement that’s going to go to zero for virtually everything — I mean about 98–99 percent of those goods,” he said. Greer also pointed to major concessions on agricultural products.
“On the agricultural side, there’s a vast array of products where tariffs will go to zero — things like tree nuts, wine, spirits, fruits, vegetables,” he said. However, he emphasised that India would continue to safeguard certain priority areas. “Of course, India — like every country in the world, including the United States — maintains some protection around certain key areas. They’ll continue to control that, and we’ll continue to work on access,” Greer said.
Greer also said India has agreed to significantly reduce non-tariff barriers that have long restricted US access to the Indian market. Responding to a question on the issue, he said, “Yes, the non-tariff barriers, as you know, if you get rid of a tariff, that’s one thing, but often the nontariff barriers pose problems, so we have an understanding and agreement with the Indians as well on a variety of technical barriers to trade, areas where they have not accepted US standards.
We know American goods are safe, we know they’re effective, etc. We have effective regulation in the US, sometimes too effective, so we have an agreement with them on a process for recognising certain US standards.” He added that while India would continue to follow its own regulatory and political processes, the agreement creates a pathway for greater acceptance of US standards.
