Amendments made to India-US trade deal factsheet based on ‘shared understanding’, says MEA

COmmenting on the recent revisions made to the edward d. White put up factsheet for the India-US merchandise sell, the Ministry of outside Affairs has said the amendments made reflect shared understandings of both countries.Speaking during the weekly press conference, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the fact sheet highlights the joint statement, which is the basis of the framework established between New Delhi and Washington for a bilateral trade deal.“We had agreed to a joint statement on the framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.. The joint statement is the framework and remains the basis of our shared understanding in this matter. The amendments in the US factsheet reflect the shared understandings contained in the joint statement,” the spokesperson said. Also Read | HT Decodes: India-US joint statement on trade dealWhite House revises fact sheet Days after the joint statement was issued for the India-US trade deal, the White House issued a fact sheet which added context and more details to the “historic” deal between the countries on February 9. However, on February 10, the White House revised the fact sheet. In new version of the document, a key change was the omission of “certain pulses” from the list of agricultural goods India had agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on US for.As per the sheet available on the official website, the White House said India has agreed to either eliminate or reduce its tariffs on 'all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products."Also Read | 'Surrendered India's future', 'prove allegations': Rahul vs Rijiju in Parliament on India-US trade dealAnother omission was done regarding India removing its digital services. The revised document removed this aspect as India has already removed its 6% equalisation levy on digital advertising services, which came into effect on April 1, 2025.Furthermore, India's commitment to investing $500 billion on US energy goods, aircraft, precious metals, and more was also edited. The fact sheet now sys India "intends to buy" more Americans goods. India-US trade deal After months of negotiations amid trade tensions due to Trump's tariffs on India, Washington and New Delhi announced that they had reached a trade agreement.The deal was teased by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and shortly after, confirmed by US President Donald Trump on Truth Social.The detailed joint statement on the trade deal was issued on February 7, which laid out the framework for what will be an interim agreement between the two countries before they eventually conclude a broader bilateral trade agreement.