Trade deal: US to export farm products to India's 'massive' market, says Agri Secy Brooke Rollins
Rollins thanked President Donald Trump for “once again delivering for our American farmers"
The proposed India-US trade understanding that Washington says will open India’s “massive” market to American agricultural products has triggered fresh questions in New Delhi, with no official word yet on what commitments, if any, India has made on farm imports — a politically and economically sensitive issue.
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that a “new US-India deal” would allow greater exports of American farm products into India, describing it as a major win for American farmers and rural communities.
“The new US-India deal will export more American farm products to India’s massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America,” Rollins said in a post, thanking President Donald Trump for “once again delivering for our American farmers".
Rollins pointed to a $1.3 billion US agricultural trade deficit with India in 2024, arguing that India’s growing population represented a key opportunity for American producers and that the agreement would help narrow the gap. She framed the move as part of an “America First” strategy and one of several recent agricultural trade deals concluded by Washington.
However, the Indian authorities have so far offered no details on whether India has agreed to lower tariffs, relax non-tariff barriers or widen market access for US farm products — an area traditionally guarded by New Delhi to protect domestic farmers and food security.
The announcement on agriculture came a day after Trump said the two countries had reached a broader trade deal, under which reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods would be cut to 18 per cent from 50 per cent following a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi welcomed the tariff reduction, calling it a positive step for bilateral ties. In a post on X, he said he was “delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent” and thanked Trump “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India".
“When two large economies and the world’s largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation,” Modi said, adding that he looked forward to taking the India-US partnership to “unprecedented heights”.
Trump, however, went further, claiming that India has agreed to reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on American goods to zero and sharply increase purchases of US energy, technology, agricultural products and coal — potentially exceeding $500 billion. He also asserted that India would stop buying Russian oil and instead source energy from the United States and possibly Venezuela.
No official confirmation was available from the Indian side on these particular claims, however External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar welcomed the India-US trade agreement, saying it would spur growth in both economies and strengthen the country’s ‘Make in India’ endeavours.
"The opportunities in our economic engagement are truly vast and we are confident of realizing them. A robust economic relationship is the strongest," Jaishankar wrote on X.
Agriculture, in particular, remains a red-line issue in Indian trade talks, given the sector’s political sensitivity and the livelihoods of millions of small farmers. Past attempts to open India’s farm market under global or bilateral trade frameworks have faced stiff domestic resistance.
While Washington has projected the latest understanding as a decisive breakthrough, the final contours of the deal — especially on agriculture — are yet to be publicly defined by the Indian side.
