In classic Trump fashion, the official India-US trade framework fact sheet published by the White House on Monday underwent some "edits" in under two days. The most significant among them were changing the wording from "committed" to "intends to buy" American products "and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products."
The other edit was the omission of "certain pulses" among US agricultural goods to India. Earlier versions of the document included it.
Currently, the edited statements read:
"India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products."
"India intends to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of U.S. energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products."
"India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade."
The earlier version of the fact sheet read:
"India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US 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."
"India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products."
"India will remove its digital services taxes and committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade, including rules that prohibit the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions."
While the White House quietly revised the official fact sheet on the proposed India-US trade framework, things that were once on the internet always stay on the internet. People who had not refreshed their browser cache and those with access to internet webpage archives could see the older version.
Apart from pulses and good trade, the third major revision occurred in terms of digital trade. By purging the "will remove its digital services taxes" pledge from India, the White House has more or less hinted that such terms could still be under negotiation.