All key sensitive sectors protected under India-U.S. Interim trade pact: Commerce Secretary

India's interim trade pact with the U.S. protects sensitive sectors, aiming for a finalized legal agreement by March.

India has always negotiated with a "clear mindset" on sectors that are "very" sensitive for the country in trade pacts and has protected all those key segments under the interim trade agreement with the U.S., Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.

He also said that both teams are working to convert the joint statement into a legal agreement, which is expected to be finalised and signed before the end of March.

"India has always negotiated all agreements with a clear mindset, anything that is very sensitive to India, anything where we feel our farmers, fishermen, dairy, they are going to be impacted, we have been very clear to our partner countries that India can not open up or provide access," he told reporters in Nuremberg.

"If you look at all the agreements that we have done in the last year, five trade agreements that we did — all the sensitive sectors have been protected. In the U.S., all the key sensitive sectors have been protected. Wherever there is a little sensitivity, we have used tariff rate quota mechanisms to ensure that any market access is limited in nature and it doesn't impact our farmers," he added.

Under the interim trade pact, which was announced earlier this month, India has fully protected sensitive agricultural and dairy products such as maize, wheat, rice, soya, poultry, milk, cheese, ethanol (fuel), tobacco, certain vegetables and meat, as no duty concessions have been granted to the U.S. on these goods under the pact.

These goods are sensitive because they involve the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers in the country.