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The Trump administration has made key changes to the US-India trade deal fact sheet, revising key provisions on pulses, agricultural products and purchase of American goods. What are the changes? What does it indicate? We break down the issue for you.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 11, 2026 10:14 IST
It ain't over until it's over. It seems to hold true for the US-India trade deal, which was announced by President Donald Trump nearly 10 days back, still seems to be undergoing key changes before the final signing around mid-March. The Trump administration has now quietly revised its fact sheet after certain terms on pulses and a $500 billion purchase "commitment" diverged from the officially released US-India joint statement, which created confusion and invited criticism from the opposition. However, the White House now appears to be removing the irritants, indicating that backchannel talks are still ongoing, and India may extract some additional concessions.
The original version of the fact sheet was released on Monday. However, within 24 hours, it was revised. Media reports indicated that the US walked back on certain terms and wordings that the countries did not agree on after a nudge from the Narendra Modi government. Stay with us, and we will break down the key changes that the White House made, giving India more leverage.
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN US TRADE DEAL FACT SHEET?
TARIFFS ON PULSES
The major revision made in the US trade deal fact sheet pertains to tariffs on pulses. The initial fact sheet mentioned that India would reduce or do away with tariffs on certain US pulses.
"India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of 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," it stated.
However, the revised paragraph in the fact sheet no longer mentions pulses. Agricultural imports, particularly pulses, are sensitive for India's farm sector and have been a red line during trade deal negotiations. Besides, India is also the world's largest producer (about 25-28% of global production) and consumer of pulses.
Notably, a couple of months back, amid an impasse in trade talks, two US senators wrote to Trump to press India to remove a 30% import duty on US pulses. The duty, which came into effect from November 1, was widely seen as a retaliation for the crippling 50% tariffs imposed by Trump last year. That, however, has now been reduced to 18% as part of the trade deal.
$500 MILLION PURCHASE PROPOSAL
The second major change in the US fact sheet is related to India's proposed purchase of goods from the US. The text in the previous version stated that India was "committed" to make a purchase of $500 billion worth of goods and services from the US. The revised version swaps "committed" with "intend" - a small but crucial change that carry significant economic implication.
"India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products," the paragraph in the previous fact sheet said. Crucially, the revised version also eliminates the mention of "agricultural goods" from the text.
DIGITAL SERVICES
Wait. That's not all. Another change in the US fact sheet was regarding India's digital services taxes (DST). The previous version mentioned that India would "remove" its digital services taxes. It generated confusion as India's official statement on the trade deal did not mention the removal of any digital services tax.
Now, the White House has removed it in the latest version of its fact sheet. "India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade," it now states.
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Published By:
Abhishek De
Published On:
Feb 11, 2026
