White House releases Joint Statement on India-U.S. interim trade deal

The White House on ​Friday (February 6, 2026) released a Joint Statement by the U.S. and India on a framework for ‌an interim trade agreement between the two countries that they said affirms their commitment to negotiations towards a broader bilateral trade deal launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025

“The United States and India will promptly implement this framework and work towards finalizing the Interim Agreement ​with a view to concluding a ⁠mutually beneficial BTA consistent with the roadmap agreed in the Terms of Reference,” the joint ⁠statement said.

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“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,” the statement said.

“The United States and India commit to provide each other preferential market access in sectors of respective interest on a sustained basis,” the statement said.

The U.S. will impose 18% reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, slashed from the previous 25%. Mr. Trump separately issued an executive order rescinding 25% additional tariffs for India’s purchase of Russian oil as he said India has committed to stop importing Russian oil and buy more U.S. energy products. The order warns the tariffs would be reimposed if India “resumes” Russian oil imports.

“India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, has represented that it will purchase United States energy products from the United States, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation over the next 10 years,” Mr. Trump said in his order.

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“If the Secretary of Commerce finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the President and Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, shall recommend whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of India,” the order read.

The joint statement comes amid Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s remarks on Thursday (February 5, 2026) that India and the U.S. will finalise and sign a joint statement regarding the trade deal in the “next 4 to 5 days”. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar too had said that the details were expected “soon”.