US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a “new US‑India deal” she said will allow greater exports of American agricultural products into India, calling it a major win for US farmers and rural communities. Rollins thanked President Donald Trump for “once again delivering for our American farmers,” saying the agreement would “export more American farm products to India’s massive market, lifting prices, and pumping cash into rural America.”
Rollins pointed to a $1.3 billion US agricultural trade deficit with India in 2024 and framed the move as part of an “America First” strategy and one of several recent agricultural trade deals Washington has concluded. She argued that India’s growing population represents a key opportunity for American producers and that the understanding would help narrow the gap.
New Delhi has not provided details on whether it has agreed to lower tariffs, relax non‑tariff barriers, or widen market access for US farm products — issues that are politically and economically sensitive in India and traditionally protected to safeguard domestic farmers and food security.
The agriculture announcement followed US President Donald Trump’s statement that the two countries had reached a broader trade deal, under which reciprocal US tariffs on Indian goods would be cut to 18 percent from 50 percent after a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi welcomed the tariff reduction on X, saying he was “delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent” and thanking Trump “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India.”
Trump went further, claiming India agreed to reduce tariffs and non‑tariff barriers on American goods to zero and to sharply increase purchases of US energy, technology, agricultural products and coal — potentially exceeding $500 billion — and to stop buying Russian oil in favor of US (and possibly Venezuelan) supplies. There has been no official confirmation from the Indian government on these specific claims.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar welcomed the India‑US trade agreement, saying it would spur growth in both economies and bolster the country’s ‘Make in India’ efforts. Agriculture remains a red‑line issue in Indian trade talks given its political sensitivity and the livelihoods of millions of small farmers; past attempts to open India’s farm market have faced strong domestic resistance. While Washington portrays the understanding as a breakthrough, the final contours of any deal — especially on agriculture — have yet to be publicly defined by India.
