New Delhi : It appears to be the case for the US-India trade deal, which was announced by President Donald Trump nearly 10 days ago, as it still seems to be undergoing key changes before the final signing around mid-March. The Trump administration has now quietly revised its fact sheet after certain terms on pulses and a $500 billion purchase “commitment” diverged from the officially released US-India joint statement, which created confusion and invited criticism from the opposition.
The major revision made in the US trade deal fact sheet pertains to tariffs on pulses. The initial fact sheet mentioned that India would reduce or do away with tariffs on certain US pulses. India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products, it stated.
India is also the world’s largest producer (about 25-28% of global production) and consumer of pulses. Notably, a couple of months back, amid an impasse in trade talks, two US senators wrote to Trump to press India to remove a 30% import duty on US pulses. The duty, which came into effect from November 1, was widely seen as a retaliation for the crippling 50% tariffs imposed by Trump last year. That, however, has now been reduced to 18% as part of the trade deal.
The text in the previous version stated that India was “committed” to make a purchase of $500 billion worth of goods and services from the US in five years. The revised version swaps “committed” with “intend” – a small but crucial change that carries significant economic implications. India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products,” the paragraph in the previous fact sheet said.
Now, the White House has removed it in the latest version of its fact sheet. “India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade,” it now states. Notably, India already scrapped its 6% equalisation levy on digital advertising services from April 1, 2025.
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