Day after releasing India-US deal factsheet, White House quietly revises key terms

The US has revised its India-US trade deal factsheet, softening language from India "commits" to "intends" to buy $500 billion in US goods and removing references to certain agricultural items and digital services tax.

The US has quietly revised the wording and certain terms in the India-US trade deal factsheet, a day after it was released by the White House. Among the key changes, the phrase stating that India “commits” to buy over US 500 billion worth of US products has been softened to “intends to buy,” altering a crucial element of the agreement.

Days after India and the US unveiled a framework for a reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade agreement, the White House on Tuesday released a factsheet outlining the key terms of the pact. The document stated that India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a broad range of American food and agricultural products.

In its initial version, the factsheet stated: "India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products."

However, the version currently available on the White House website says India “intends” to buy more American products. It also omits the term “agricultural” from the list of product categories.

Similarly, the earlier version noted that, "India will eliminate or reduce 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".

The revised version drops the reference to “certain pulses” from this list.