India will lower tariffs on a wide range of American industrial and agricultural goods to zero per cent under a trade deal announced by US President Donald Trump, a top US official has said, marking a major reset in bilateral trade terms even as Washington retains an 18 per cent tariff on Indian exports.
US trade representative Jamieson Greer described the agreement as a “big win”, saying India has agreed to remove tariffs on nearly all industrial goods and a broad section of agricultural products, while continuing to retain protection in select sectors.
“This is it. The time has come, and now we have the deal. We'll finish papering it, but we know the specifics. We know the details. It's a very exciting opportunity,” Greer told CNBC Squawk Box on Tuesday.
Under the deal, India will reduce tariffs on 98–99 per cent of industrial goods imported from the US to zero, Greer said, adding that agricultural imports would also see sweeping tariff cuts.
“The average tariff on industrial goods in India is currently around 13.5 per cent. That's going to go to zero for virtually everything. When I say virtually, I mean 98-99 per cent. On the agricultural side, there's a vast, vast array of agricultural goods. So it will go to zero,” he said.
Products set to benefit include tree nuts, wine, spirits, fruits and vegetables.
“India, like every country in the world, including the US, has some protection around certain key areas where they'll continue to control that. We'll continue to work on access. But for a variety of things, tree nuts, wine, spirits, fruits, vegetables, etc, they're going down to zero. This is a big win,” Greer said.
While American exports to India will face zero tariffs, the US will continue to levy an 18 per cent tariff on Indian goods, citing a trade imbalance.
“The US will continue to maintain some level of tariff against India - 18 per cent - because we have this giant trade deficit with them, but they've also agreed to reduce their tariffs for us on a variety of agricultural products, manufactured goods, chemicals, medical devices, etc. It's an exciting opportunity for both countries,” Greer said.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said the US would reduce its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25 per cent to 18 per cent with immediate effect, while India would “likewise move forward to reduce their tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the US to zero.”
Trump also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to buying American goods at higher levels, including energy, technology, agricultural products and coal, as well as investments worth USD 500 billion across key US sectors.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said India had also committed to ending purchases of Russian oil.
“India is committed to ‘no longer’ purchasing Russian oil,” she said, adding that PM Modi had agreed to large-scale investments in the US.
She said India would instead buy oil from the US and possibly Venezuela.
“India has agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil to buy more American oil from the US, and potentially from Venezuela too,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump and his national security team are “now dictating” Venezuela’s oil sales.
Greer said India had already begun reducing Russian crude imports.
“They took advantage of a situation where Russian crude was trading at a discount because they couldn't get it to any other countries because of sanctions. President Trump very accurately...put the Indians on notice that we view this as supporting the Russian war effort,” he said.
“And starting at the end of last year, the Indians started winding down their purchase of Russian oil. We've been monitoring that. They've been diversifying purchases of energy from the US, not just oil, but also gas, propane, and other things. That's been going up. We'll keep monitoring that,” Greer added.
The deal also addresses non-tariff barriers, which Greer said have long restricted US access to the Indian market.
“Getting rid of tariffs is one thing, but often, the non-tariff barriers pose problems,” he said. “So we have an understanding and agreement with the Indians as well on a variety of technical barriers to trade areas where they have not accepted US standards.”
“We know American goods are safe, we know they're effective, etc. We have effective regulation in the US, sometimes too effective. So we have an agreement with them on a process for recognising certain US standards,” he said.
“They obviously have their own political considerations, and they have their own processes for accepting those standards, but that's a key portion of this trade agreement that should open up this market of over a billion people to US goods,” Greer added.
The US Trade Representative’s office echoed the assessment in a post on X.
“India will lower tariffs on a wide array of US industrial and agricultural goods to 0%. President Trump's historic deal with India delivers unprecedented market access for American farmers and producers,” the USTR said.
The trade deal also featured in high-level diplomatic engagements.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed “formalising” cooperation on critical minerals exploration and mining during their meeting in Washington, DC.
A State Department readout said the two leaders “welcomed” the trade deal and “emphasised the importance of our democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance our shared energy security goals.”
Leavitt said the agreement was a clear win for the US.
“The US tariff on India will now be at 18 per cent, but American exports to India will face a tariff of zero per cent, so this is a great deal and a huge win for American workers, businesses and consumers alike,” she said.
Trump had earlier imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil