New Delhi intends to protect its sensitive sectors like agriculture, Piyush Goyal has said

Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal has revealed the details of a deal with Washington first announced by US President Donald Trump on Monday.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Goyal tried to allay fears that the South Asian nation would open up its agriculture sector, particularly the dairy industry, to imports from the US.

"[Indian] Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi has always taken care of agriculture and dairy, both these sectors, looked after their interests, and continuously worked to ensure that people in this sector get a bright future," Piyush Goyal said.

Agriculture has always been a bone of contention in US-India trade talks, as farmers are a sensitive political constituency in both countries. Indian agriculturalists are limited to owning small plots of land, whereas the average American farm measures about 440 acres (178 hectares). New Delhi's last attempt to liberalize prices for agricultural staples prompted widespread protests.

"A trade deal is under the final stages of detailing by both teams, we will release a joint statement shortly," Goyal noted. "Our MSME [micro, small and medium enterprises] sector, our engineering sector, gem and jewelry, leather, textile and marine sector, they all will get better opportunities now," he said.

As soon as the final understanding of the deal is inked, the joint statement is finalized and technical details finalized, the full details will be shared, he added.

Trump's announcement on Monday only specified that the tariff will be lowered from 25% to 18% for Indian products. The White House later relayed that the US will drop the additional 25% tariff which had been levied on India for importing Russian oil.

New Delhi and Washington failed to reach an agreement after several rounds of talks in 2025 and the US imposed a 50% tariff on India, half of which was a penalty for its trade partner's purchases of Russian oil.

Trump claimed on Monday that India hadagreedto "stop buying Russian oil and to buy much more from the United States" and agreed to "buy American at a much higher level" in addition to "over $500 billion of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal, and many other products."

Modi confirmed the new tariff structure in a social media post on Monday but did not comment on the claim that New Delhi would stop buying Russian oil, only saying that the South Asian nation supports Trump's "efforts for peace." Indian exports to the US will now enjoy the second-best tariff rate in Asia, after Japan.

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(RT.com)