- India excluded most farm commodities from the India-US trade deal
- Bilateral trade between India and the US is over $200 billion
- The trade pact offers India a competitive tariff advantage over rivals like China
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said almost every farm commodity that India produces in respectable volumes has been kept out of the India-US trade deal, so farmers and dairy are protected and the pact still opens a sharper edge for Indian exporters.
"Bacha kya hain," Goyal told the audience at the NDTV Profit Conclave. The Minister set the premise in plain words. “Where is the fear. Almost every farmer commodity which is made in India in good respectable quantity where we are not dependent on imports has been kept out of this trade deal.”
He framed the scale of the relationship and the target. “We already had 200 billion plus bilaterally in goods and services.” He added, “We are very confident it will take us about five or six years to go to 500 billion.” He said industry must seize the opening by investing in capacity and quality. “We need industry to come up to speed. Create capacities, enjoy the fruits of economies of scale, and ensure we consistently make high quality products.”
He drew the contrast with rivals on tariff headroom. “This trade agreement gives us a competitive advantage, a comparative advantage over all the other nations who we compete against. So China has 35 percent, Vietnam has probably 20 percent.” He said India retains “a number of zeros both in farm produce that we export and industrial goods which we will continue to export at zero.”
He listed the tech and aviation unlocks that India needs. “Artificial intelligence equipment or data center equipment or quantum computing machinery” should flow with fewer hurdles. He said the pact will help speed deliveries for aviation orders. “We already have orders worth 80 or 90 billion on Boeing, on GE, on the aerospace ecosystem. We need that to come quickly.” He said he has told American counterparts to ensure steady supplies.
Goyal also flagged inputs for the steel push. “Steel production is going to double from 140 million to about 300 million tons. We are going to need more coking coal.” He said India should “diversify the suppliers, more the merrier,” to bring better competition for Indian buyers.
He placed the agreement within the wider outreach. “The nine free trade agreements have covered 38 countries.” His core claim remained blunt. “No country in the world in history has become a developed nation without looking outside their own country.”
