Trade deal shrouded in opacity: Anand Sharma
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday said the India-US trade deal is “shrouded in opacity” and has raised fundamental questions beyond trade, which concern national sovereignty, India’s global commitments to the multilateral trade regime and its leadership of the Global South.
Sharma posed a series of questions to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, asking whether India has committed to opening up its agriculture and dairy sector as claimed by US President Donald Trump and whether India is committed to offering zero-duty access to the US on almost all products. In a statement, the former commerce minister said the trade deal with the US, claimed as “historic and path-breaking”, is shrouded in opacity, and President Trump has made tall claims on commitments made by India. “This has raised fundamental questions beyond trade, which concern national sovereignty, India’s global commitments to the multilateral rule-based trade regime and the WTO.
It also raises concerns about India’s leadership of the Global South as it takes over BRICS presidency.” Posing questions to Goyal, he asked whether the deal has been signed or the details are yet to be negotiated and finalised.
“The unilateral imposition of 50 per cent Tariffs was illegal and in violation of both International law and the IEEPA (International Economic Emergency Powers Act) of the US. The judgment of the US Supreme Court is awaited. Even before the US imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, the average most-favoured-nation US tariffs imposed on India were around 3 per cent. Therefore, what is there to celebrate?” Sharma asked.
The US action to impose tariffs and that too differential tariffs on India and different countries, without entering into an FTA, was a violation of the MFN and the commitment to remain within the bound tariffs - both foundational principles of the WTO, he said.
Therefore, does the trade deal mean that India is moving away from its commitment to the WTO principles, Sharma asked.
“Has India committed to opening up its Agriculture and dairy sector (as claimed by President Trump)? Has India committed to offering zero duty access to the US on almost all products, including agriculture, in return for 18 per cent tariffs as claimed by President Trump?” Sharma said.
He further asked whether India given a commitment to buy USD 500 billion worth of US goods in the next few years, as claimed by Trump.
“Since India’s latest annual imports from the US are approximately 45 billion dollars and global merchandise imports, including petroleum and gas, are 700 billion USD, how could India make such an incredulous long-term commitment?” he said. “Has India compromised its sovereign freedom to trade and committed not to buy Russian oil when even the EU continues to buy Russian oil and gas, Sharma asked. Goyal on Wednesday told Lok Sabha that the sensitive sectors of the country, like agriculture and dairy, are completely protected in the India-US trade deal.
He said that the US tariffs for Indian goods will be reduced to 18 per cent.
It was 50 per cent earlier.
The tariff on India is among the lowest compared to its competitor nations, Goyal said.
“India has been successful in protecting the agricultural and dairy sectors,” he said, adding the deal will help promote initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Design in India’, and will make India self-reliant. He added that labour-intensive sectors will get a major boost in exports after the reduction in the tariffs to 18 per cent.
