MAGA Gov. Glenn Youngkin is dramatically overselling a minor, tiny, baby step toward a trade agreement with India as being something that can bail out Virginia farmers about to get hammered by the disastrous Trump tariffs.
Youngkin, speaking at the 2025 Virginia Agricultural Trade Conference on Tuesday, said an agreement had been reached that morning in which India will double its trade relationship with the U.S.
“India has been mostly closed to Virginia and U.S. exports, so this is a great opportunity for Virginia to expand its export business,” Youngkin told the conference.
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Problem with this “great opportunity” here being, the agreement that Youngkin touted isn’t going to double anything, at least not yet, and also, if ever.
What was actually agreed to on Tuesday was a finalized Terms of Reference that will lay out a roadmap for trade negotiations between the two countries.
Don’t believe me?
Here’s a quote from Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative, from a press release from the Trump administration:
“I am pleased to confirm that USTR and India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry have finalized the Terms of Reference to lay down a roadmap for the negotiations on reciprocal trade.”
That’s it.
The two sides have agreed on how they’re going to negotiate.
Trump imposed a 26 percent tariff on imports from India as part of his “Liberation Day” trade policy announced on April 2.
This is in addition to a 10 percent baseline tariff applied to all U.S. imports that began on April 5.
That’s all still in place, which is to say, there’s no deal between the U.S. and India, just terms of reference to guide negotiations.
And if you want to know how those negotiations might go, here’s more from Greer from the press release:
“There is a serious lack of reciprocity in the trade relationship with India. These ongoing talks will help achieve balance and reciprocity by opening new markets for American goods and addressing unfair practices that harm American workers.”
The behind-closed-doors part of these negotiations sure ought to be fun.
Back to Youngkin: he was almost literally selling us a bill of goods here, trying to pass off an agreement on framework for future negotiations as India agreeing to double its trade relationship with the U.S.
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Chris Graham
