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Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday reiterated his criticism of the India-US interim trade agreement, stating that New Delhi has been "forced to concede more to Washington than it has got".
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh said that the US understanding of a deal is very different from the "propaganda" that is being put out by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government. "It did not take long for President Trump and his team to puncture the tall claims being made by the PM and his many megaphones on the Indo-US trade deal. Clearly, the US's understanding of the deal is very different from the propaganda that is being put out by the Modi Govt. This is not a calibrated opening but a coerced opening. India has been forced to concede more than what it has got," he said. https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2021233132129878430?s=20 This comes after the US issued a fact sheet on the framework for an interim trade agreement. The fact sheet mentioned that US President Donald Trump agreed to remove the additional 25% tariff on imports from India in recognition of India's commitment to stop purchasing Russian Federation oil. Accordingly, the President signed an Executive Order last Friday removing the additional 25 per cent tariffs. Additionally, referring to the US deal with Bangladesh, Jairam Ramesh said, "And now our much-touted advantage over Bangladesh in textile exports to the US has vanished with the details of the US-Bangladesh trade deal also having just been announced." The US will further reduce the reciprocal tariff to 19%, which was originally set at 37% and later reduced to 20% in August last year. In addition, the US committed to establishing a mechanism for certain textile and apparel goods from Bangladesh using US-produced cotton and man-made fibre to receive zero reciprocal tariff in the US market. Meanwhile, according to the US-India interim trade agreement, 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 for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products. It said the United States will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18 per cent under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended, on originating goods of India, including textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home decor, artisanal products, and certain machinery. (ANI)
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