PALMOILMAGAZINE, NEW DELHI – India and the United States are expected to begin implementing an interim trade agreement in April 2026, marking an initial step toward a broader bilateral trade pact between the two countries.
According to The India Times, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, said negotiators from both nations were scheduled to meet in the United States starting February 23 for three days to finalize the legal framework of the interim agreement.
The temporary trade framework will include tariff reductions on selected goods, expanded energy trade, and broader economic cooperation between the two countries. Under the arrangement, the United States is expected to lower reciprocal tariffs on Indian products from 25% to around 18%.
As part of the agreement, India has also pledged to import goods worth approximately US$500 billion from the United States over the next five years. The list of commodities includes oil and gas, coking coal, aircraft and aviation components, precious metals, as well as advanced technology products such as graphics processing units (GPUs) used in artificial intelligence and data centers.
Agricultural Products Included
In return, India plans to cut or eliminate tariffs on several US agricultural and industrial products. These include dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, and alcoholic beverages.
However, the United States will still maintain an 18% tariff on most imports from India, covering products such as textiles, leather goods, footwear, plastics, organic chemicals, home décor items, and certain machinery.
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The agreement is also expected to create broader market access for India’s agriculture, fisheries, and micro, small, and medium enterprises to the US market, which is valued at roughly US$30 trillion.
In a related development, the US government has revised official documents linked to the agreement by removing several earlier references, including the term “certain pulses” from the list of US products eligible for tariff reductions in India.
The updated document now refers more broadly to US industrial and agricultural products that will benefit from lower tariffs in India, including soybean oil—a move that could influence the dynamics of global vegetable oil trade. (P2)
