US corn can be used to meet India’s biofuel targets without disrupting local food and feed markets: NITI Aayog Working Paper
Australia exported 2.61 million tonnes of wheat, including durum, in April 2025—a 23% increase from March. Major bulk buyers included Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines. Containerised exports led to Malaysia and Indonesia. Durum exports peaked with 105,820 tonnes to Italy. New African and Middle Eastern markets emerged, boosting Australia’s global wheat trade footprint.
To enhance agricultural trade with the United States, a NITI Aayog Working Paper has recommended that corn may be imported for ethanol blending and its by-product, like Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), can be entirely exported to avoid GM feed in the country.
The conclusions and recommendations, outlined in the NITI Aayog Working Paper titled “Promoting India-US Agricultural Trade under the New US Trade Regime,” authored by NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand and Senior Adviser Raka Saxena, also state that US corn is cheaper and can be used to meet India’s biofuel targets without disrupting local food and feed markets.
The NITI Aayog Working Paper highlights India has maintained surplus in agriculture trade with the USA and the same has increased over time. However, the relative importance of agriculture in the bilateral trade is diminishing. Food demand and supply projections for India indicate sizeable increase in agri-food surplus in the coming years. This will require higher fraction of domestic production to be sold in overseas markets either in raw form or in processed form. USA is expected to remain a big market for export of surplus food from India. Therefore, all efforts need to be made to keep favorable environment for export to USA. This should include strategic opening for US imports into India to achieve larger gains in exports. The ongoing negotiations between the two countries for bilateral trade accord seem to be the best option for resetting long term trade relationship.
The Indo-US agricultural trade has experienced significant changes and steady growth in the last two decades signaling deepening bilateral economic ties. However, sudden announcement of “reciprocal tariffs” and enhanced market access for US exports by the US administration following re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in January 2025, have sent shock waves in the world especially among the trading partners of US. These measures pose significant challenges for developing countries like India and have reignited protectionist trade policies. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the trends, composition and competitiveness of agricultural trade between India and the United States and suggests measures to strengthen agricultural trade and enhance competitiveness of Indian agriculture to adapt to the emerging changes in US trade regime. The bilateral trade trajectory is examined through four lenses: evolving trade composition, competitiveness dynamics, policy shifts, and future opportunities.
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Source : Chinimandi
