India remains a “hard to crack” on agriculture but the two sides can find mutually agreed-upon common ground, US Trade Representative Jamison Greer told a congressional panel, as an Indian trade delegation led by chief negotiator Darpan Jain was in Washington for a three-day round of direct talks – the first in six months.
Greer was answering questions from Congressman Randy Feenstra at a hearing on the Trump administration’s 2026 trade policy agenda before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.
Feenstra, who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District and sits on the Ways and Means and Agriculture committees, lobbied Greer on access to the Indian agricultural market and exports of animal feed products including dried distillers grains (DDGs), soybean meal and ethanol. Iowa is among the largest egg-producing areas in the United States and leads in production of corn, soybeans, pork, and biofuels.
“India may remain one of the most restrictive markets when it comes to agriculture, and I am excited to see the progress both parties are making in working with the US-India Trade Agreement and Trade Framework,” Feenstra said.
Greer confirmed that the two sides are actively engaged. “Yes, you will know that we have a joint framework agreement with India that we have signed that sets out the general terms of our agreement. Indian trade negotiators are in town this week. So this week we have been talking about those issues including those specific commodities that you talked about – DDGs and so on,” he told the committee.
“India is a tough nut to crack. They have protected their agricultural markets for a very long time. As part of this deal, they will want to protect a lot of it. But there are things I think we can reach mutual agreement on. The CEO groups are a good example of that,” he said. While Jarir did not reveal the results of the talks, his statements confirmed that the negotiations are live and focused.
Reference DDGs are important. Under the framework of an interim bilateral trade agreement agreed on February 7, India has allowed the import of limited quantities of DDG from the United States – about 1% of its annual consumption of 50 million tons. India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, including DDGs and red sorghum used in animal feed, the joint statement said.
At his weekly press conference on Thursday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the talks were “ongoing and constructive.” He said: “The two sides are working to reach a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward-looking trade agreement, taking into account each other’s interests and priorities, and achieving a trade target of $500 billion by 2030.” This target would more than double bilateral trade in goods and services of about $212 billion in 2024. The Commerce Department did not respond to a separate inquiry about the talks.
The visiting delegation is expected to return to New Delhi by Friday. People familiar with the developments, who requested anonymity, said the talks are moving along two broad tracks: creating a viable legal tariff structure after the Supreme Court ruling, and securing India’s comparative advantage over competing exporters such as China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
