India-US Trade Deal: From wines to motorcycles - List of products set to gain

The US and India on Saturday announced that they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, under which America will reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent, according to a joint statement issued by the White House. Both have announced that they have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement).

The framework reaffirms the countries’ commitment to the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, launched by US President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025, which will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.

From wines to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, India has agreed to cut or remove import duties on a broad range of American products under the trade agreement, according to a media report.

"India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. 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," read the joint statement by India and the US.

The MIP sets a price floor below which imported alcoholic beverages cannot be sold, preventing under-invoicing or dumping while allowing genuine imports to benefit from reduced duties.

To safeguard domestic producers, sensitive items such as apples will be subject to quota-based access, with import duty capped at 25 per cent within the quota and the minimum import price raised to Rs 80 per kg from Rs 50 earlier.

Pistachios, walnuts, almonds and certain lentils will also receive tariff concessions, either immediately or in a phased manner. For lentils, India has introduced tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), permitting imports at reduced duties up to a specified limit.

Last year, the government had reduced import duty on motorcycles with engine capacities of up to 1,600 cc, which are imported as completely built-up (CBU) units, from 50 per cent to 40 per cent. For motorcycles with engine capacities exceeding 1,600 cc, the duty was curtailed to 30 per cent from 50 per cent.

Select medical devices, such as laparoscopes, X-ray components, pacemakers, diagnostic tools and imaging equipment, will also see duty reductions. For certain devices, these concessions will be phased in, giving India time to align regulatory and pricing frameworks while opening the market to US suppliers.

The concessions are intended to support US exports while ensuring Indian textile manufacturers have access to a key raw material.

Under the interim trade agreement, India has also offered limited tariff concessions on US dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGs) to meet animal husbandry requirements, allowing only necessary quantities into the domestic market. The move is expected to particularly benefit India’s poultry sector, Goyal said.

DDGs are a byproduct of ethanol production from grains such as corn. In addition, India will grant tariff concessions on select organic and inorganic chemicals, certain cosmetic products, and computer-related goods from the US.