{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibvtm2ahryitxgzndhye23aqd46gwsibr7dem6v3gsb3ssypbbxsi",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:neqfhinxgjyy6qagpbcb6wfe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mexnipu7lpl2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreibh6duwmz7n4ct2f6nwxzcqk2tdon6ohrqjl5csafvqjrkvs2xu4u"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 86382
  },
  "path": "/partner/india-forced-to-defend-us-trade-deal-as-doubts-mount",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-16T07:23:55.000Z",
  "site": "https://nukta.com",
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nIndia is scrambling to defend a new trade deal with the United States that critics have branded as a surrender to Washington, as countries navigate the fallout from President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.\n\nThe deal announced this month has rattled India's powerful farmers' unions, who argue that cheap U.S. imports would throttle local producers in a country where agriculture employs more than 700 million people.\n\nDetails of the deal remain sparse, limited to a joint statement and a White House factsheet, but New Delhi says an interim pact should be finalized by the end of March.\n\nAnalysts warn that other elements of the agreement could also prove volatile.\n\n\"In the Trumpian era, there is nothing called certainty,\" trade expert Abhijit Das told AFP.\n\nEven if the deal is signed in a few weeks, it would only hold until Trump \"decides to impose more tariffs for any perceived inconsistency,\" he said.\n\nThe most contentious pledge is India's stated intention to buy $500 billion worth of U.S. goods over five years. India's annual imports from the U.S. last fiscal year were around $45 billion.\n\nDoubling annual purchases to $100 billion \"is unrealistic\", said Ajay Srivastava of the Global Trade Research Initiative, a New Delhi-based think tank.\n\n### Intention not commitment\n\nAircraft purchases were a major component of this commitment but even a major expansion of Boeing aircraft orders -- decisions made by private airlines -- would fall far short, he said.\n\n\"Even if India were to add another 200 Boeing aircraft over the next five years, at an estimated cost of $300 million per aircraft, the total value would be about $60 billion.\"\n\nSome economists argue the language around purchases is non‑binding, hence it protects New Delhi if it fails to meet the goal.\n\n\"Framing the target as an intention, rather than a commitment, reduces the risk of the deal later breaking down,\" Shivaan Tandon of Capital Economics said in a note on Friday.\n\nTrump's unpredictability also continues to loom large.\n\nHe recently threatened higher tariffs on South Korea over perceived delays by Seoul in implementing a trade agreement announced last July.\n\nAnother flashpoint is Washington's rollback of a 25 percent duty after what it described as India's \"commitment\" to stop buying Russian oil.\n\nThis promise finds no mention in the joint statement and has neither been confirmed nor denied by the Indian government.\n\nIndia says its energy policy is driven by national interests and that the country depends on multiple sources for crude oil imports.\n\n### 'Oil plank'\n\nNew Delhi's Russian oil imports have dropped from a mid‑2025 peak of more than two million barrels a day to about 1.1 million in January.\n\nLocal reports say state-owned refiners have already started purchasing Venezuelan oil for delivery in April.\n\nBut it remains unclear if Russian purchases will fall to zero.\n\nThe outlook hinges heavily on Mumbai-headquartered Nayara Energy, partly owned by Russia's Rosneft, which Bloomberg reported plans to keep buying around 400,000 barrels a day.\n\nThis will likely remain a bone of contention, given the Trump administration's stance that it intends to monitor India's imports.\n\n\"New Delhi continues to avoid publicly confirming a full halt and frames energy sourcing as driven by price and availability, which underlines ongoing ambiguity over the oil plank,\" Darren Tay of BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, told AFP.\n\n\"There is tentative evidence that Indian refiners are reducing spot purchases of Russian crude, implying partial adjustment rather than a formal pledge,\" Tay said.\n\nThe deal remains \"too fragile and politically contested\" to justify a growth forecast change for India, he added.",
  "title": "India forced to defend US trade deal as doubts mount"
}