Agriculture talks still ongoing, says US trade representative; India says farm and dairy interests safeguarded

Farmers harvest fenugreek leaves on the floodplains of the Yamuna River in New Delhi on January 31, 2026. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

The India-US trade deal lowers tariffs on industrial and consumer goods but lets India keep protections for sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors. US tariffs on Indian goods drop to 18%. Both sides say the agreement balances market access with domestic safeguards.

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The India-United States trade deal will allow New Delhi to retain protections for sensitive segments of its agriculture sector, even as tariffs are lowered across a wide range of industrial and consumer goods, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Tuesday.

Speaking to CNBC International, Greer said negotiations were still continuing in areas related to agriculture, signalling that India would not be forced into immediate or blanket market openings in politically and economically sensitive sectors.

Washington, he said, “will continue to work on access to certain protected areas of India’s agriculture sector,” indicating that farm trade discussions remain a work in progress.

Tariff cuts with room for agricultural safeguards

Greer confirmed that under the agreement, India will reduce tariffs on American industrial goods to zero from the current average of 13.5 percent, while duties on several consumer categories will also be eliminated.

“India’s tariffs for a variety of things, you know, tree nuts, wine, spirits, fruits, vegetables, etc, they’re going down to zero,” Greer said.

However, according to Reuters, Greer did not mention key agricultural commodities such as rice, beef, soybeans, sugar or dairy. These are sectors that India had also excluded from its recently concluded trade agreement with the European Union, underscoring New Delhi’s consistent position on protecting core farm interests.

Greer said the formalisation process for the trade deal is still underway and did not specify when the tariff changes would take effect.

“We’ll finish papering it, but we know the specifics, we know the details,” he said, adding that India would continue to retain protections around certain agricultural goods.

US tariffs on Indian goods cut to 18 per cent

The US Trade Representative also confirmed that the agreement would reduce American tariffs on most Indian goods to 18 per cent from an earlier effective rate of 50 per cent.

He linked the tariff reset to India’s growing trade surplus with the United States, which reached 53.5 billion dollars during the first 11 months of 2025, compared with 45.8 billion dollars for the full year of 2024, according to US Census Bureau data.

India says core interests protected

Reacting to the developments, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ensured that India’s agriculture and dairy sectors remained fully safeguarded under the trade agreement.

Addressing a press conference, Goyal said the deal would unlock major opportunities for Indian businesses while protecting sensitive domestic interests.

“PM Modi has always championed both the agriculture and dairy sectors, safeguarding their interests and working tirelessly to ensure a bright future and ample opportunities for the people in these sectors,” Goyal said.

“The sensitive factors of India’s economy, particularly agriculture and dairy, have been protected,” he added.

Goyal also said the agreement would benefit micro, small and medium enterprises and boost exports across sectors such as engineering goods, textiles, gems and jewellery, leather products and marine exports.

Taken together, the remarks from Washington and New Delhi suggest that the India US trade deal balances market access with domestic safeguards, allowing India to expand global trade while maintaining policy space in critical sectors of its economy.