The US is continuing to pressure India for greater market access for goods across sectors in the ongoing bilateral trade agreement negotiations and agree to “much less tariffs” despite New Delhi’s resistance in sensitive areas, including agriculture.
“I think we are going to have a deal with India. And that is going to be a different kind of a deal. It is going to be a deal where we are able to go in and compete. Right now, India does not accept anybody in. I think India is going to do that, and if they do that, we are going to have a deal for much less tariffs,” US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.
Although the July 9 deadline for an interim deal to avoid US reciprocal tariffs is looming large, India is not ready to play ball till it gets to fully protect its sensitivities, including agriculture, and attains commensurate benefits in terms of market access in the US, sources said.
If the details of the deal cannot be worked out on time, the chances are that the Trump regime will either announce a bare-bones kind of a deal with not too many details, like the ones with the UK and China, or it will go ahead and impose the reciprocal tariffs. There may also be a possibility of some “good faith negotiators” getting more time.
“A bilateral trade deal has to be balanced. Both sides have to go back with something that they have gained. India cannot make offers for everything that the US wants,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.
US is continuing to press for market access for agricultural products, including GM products, which India is not able to accept. Moreover, there seem to be demands for steep cuts in tariffs in several sectors such as automobiles, motorcycles, alcoholic beverages and processed food, that India can’t accept till it gets something in return, the source added.
“The US is willing to offer very little. Indian negotiators are struggling for a full roll back of the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff, including the 10 per cent baseline tariff, and the sector specific tariffs on steel & aluminium and automobiles. There seems to be not much chance of US agreeing to bring down its MFN (normal) tariffs,” the source said.
Published on July 2, 2025
