Niti Aayog paper backed lower agri tariffs, GM imports to balance US-India trade

A paper by Niti Aayog, India's government think tank, which was briefly uploaded and then withdrawn from its website, advocated for a selective reduction of agricultural tariffs, including on genetically modified (GM) soybean and corn, to benefit India in ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. Authored by economists Ramesh Chand and Raka Saxena, the paper acknowledged challenges from "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US but identified opportunities for India to gain while proposing reforms to facilitate the acceptance of Indian produce in the US market.

The paper suggested that India, as the world's largest edible oil importer with a significant trade surplus in agriculture with the US, could consider lowering tariffs on GM soybean oil. This concession could address US demands to reduce the trade imbalance without negatively impacting domestic production, despite India's general stance against GM foods. It also proposed lowering tariffs on non-competitive items like apples, which are imported at a premium due to quality and off-season availability.

The timing of this paper is crucial as US-India trade negotiations are intensifying, with a July 9 deadline set by the US to potentially impose higher tariffs on Indian exports if a trade agreement is not reached. The paper also called for broader "structural reforms" in India's sprawling farm sector, including liberalizing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) laws to enable direct procurement and promote agro-processing clusters—measures similar to the farm laws repealed by the Modi government in 2021 after farmer protests. The Niti Aayog officials involved did not comment on the paper's withdrawal.