tirupati l sunday l february 08, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 28 l anantapur EDITION Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a car ride with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday | PTI CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI $500 billion handshake Delhi inks favourable terms with US, both agree to phase out duties, boost mutual investments P u s h p i ta d ey @ New Delhi WITH THIS ISSUE The Other Cricket PLUS 12 P AGES annually,” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. INDIA and the United States set The overall tariff restructuring an ambitious target of $500 billion will be implemented in a phased in annual bilateral trade, as the manner. Zero-duty access will be two countries released a joint available only after the agreement statement on Saturday outlining is formally signed in March. On the framework of the interim market access for American proddeal. ucts, Goyal said India had adopted As part of the understanding, a c a l i b r at e d a n d s e l e c t ive India will eliminate or reduce tar- approach. iffs on US industrial goods and a “We have opened our markets broad basket of agricultural and for the US on some products like food products, including distillers’ DDGS and wines and spirits, but dried grains (DDGs), red sorghum in these cases we have also kept a for feed, tree nuts, fruits, minimum import price soybean oil, wine and to safeguard domestic spirits. In return, the US producers,” he said, addwill cut reciprocal tariff ing that no discriminato 18% on select Indian tory measures have been The interim trade goods such as textiles, taken against any Indian pact will leather, plastics, rubber, sector. strengthen the organic chemicals, home ‘Make in India’ by The minister clarified décor and certain that India has retained opening up new opportunities for machinery . protection for sensitive farmers and However, the US indiagriculture and dairy cated that once the inter- entrepreneurs, and segments. Only products create jobs for im agreement becomes already being imported women and operational, tariffs will have been given limited youngsters be lifted for sectors idenconcessions, subject to tified as aligned partners, Narendra Modi, PM quotas and minimum imnotably generics, gems port prices. and diamonds, and aircraft parts. With the immediate revocation According to the joint statement, of the 25% additional tariff, secIndia has also indicated its intent tors such as textiles and apparel, to purchase $500 billion worth of leather and footwear, plastics and US energy aircraft and parts, pre- rubber products, gems and jewel, cious metals, technology products lery, and marine products are exand coking coal over five years. pected to regain export momen“Considering the two countries’ tum in the US market. relations, diplomatic ties, and the Goyal said the marine sector is friendship between their leaders, likely to be one of the biggest discussions on a bilateral trade beneficiaries. agreement began in February “With markets now diversified 2025. The objective was to achieve and US tariffs coming down, seabilateral trade of $500 billion be- food exporters will have a double tween India and the United States benefit,” he said. Small print of proposed big deal Lower or zero duty on US wine and spirits, dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil Strings attached as Don nixes 25% punitive levy J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order rescinding a punitive 25% duty on Indian imports that had been imposed over India’s purchases of Russian energy The White House said . the move followed assurances from India that it would stop directly or indirectly importing Russian oil — assertions that New Delhi has not publicly confirmed. “Specifically, India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil, has represented that it will purchase United States energy products from the US, and has recently committed to a framework with the United States to expand defense cooperation ‘Quantum Valley set to be game changer’ Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada “Quantum technology is poised to become a game changer not only for Andhra Pradesh, but also for India and the world. This transformation is inevitable and Andhra Pradesh is ready to lead the future,” said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The Chief Minister, along with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, laid the foundation stone for the prestigious Quantum Valley Towers at Uddandarayunipalem in Amaravati on Saturday . The foundation ceremony marked Andhra Pradesh’s formal entry into the global quantum technology landscape, and E x p r e s s Re a d Close shave for 39 as bus catches fire Vijayawada: Thirty-nine passengers had a miraculous escape when a private travel bus caught fire near Keesara village in Kanchikacherla mandal of NTR district on Saturday morning. Noticing smoke and fire, the driver acted swiftly and stopped the bus. All passengers escaped unhurt | P3 Schoolkids’ SM post gets them new road Nellore: A social media appeal by schoolchildren highlighting their daily struggle to reach school through a muddy road has led to the immediate sanction of a new road to Gajjalavaripalli in Nellore district, following the intervention of Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan | P4 ‘AP set to be driver of India’s blue economy’ Vijayawada: Describing the Union Budget as a roadmap for Viksit Bharat, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh said it is evolved on the pillars of productivity, resilience and inclusivity, with Andhra Pradesh set to emerge as a key driver of India’s blue economy mission | P4 CM Chandrababu Naidu and Union Minister Jitendra Singh during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Quantum Valley in Amaravati | Express signalled the State’s ambition to lead India’s deep technology future. In partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, IBM, TCS and L&T will establish India’s first 133-qubit quantum computer centre, making Amaravati a global hub for quantum research and innovation across multiple sectors. Addressing the gathering, Naidu described the occasion as a historic milestone for Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh and the nation. He said the project represents a decisive “quantum transition moment” at a time when technological capabilities are rapidly reshaping economies worldwide. Referring to the United Nations declaring 2026 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the Chief Minister said global attention is now firmly focused on quantum innovations. Explaining the vision behind Amaravati Quantum Valley, Naidu said the towers will be P4 built on 50 acres.  Reciprocal tariff down to 18% on Indian textile and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and certain machinery Minimum import prices fixed on products like US apples No entry for US dried/ frozen/ canned/ provisionally preserved veggies, beans, pulses, roots & tubers, citrus fruits, berries Zero US duty on import of spices, tea, coffee, copra, coconut oil, areca nut So far, the world has spoken about Silicon Valley. In the coming years, it will speak about Amaravati’s Quantum Valley. Like Hitech City, Quantum Valley will play a similar role for the next 30 to 40 years. We will take decisions at quantum speed, and ensure development happens at quantum speed Naidu, CM Commerce minister Piyush Goyal speaks on the India-US trade deal in Delhi | PTI over the next 10 years,” the executive order said. The document added that India has taken “significant steps” to address American concerns over Russian oil purchases and to “align sufficiently with the US on national security foreign policy , and economic matters.” Despite lifting the tariffs, the executive order makes clear that relief is conditional. It establishes a formal US gover nment monitoring mechanism to verify whether India has indeed stopped importing Russian oil. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has been tasked with overseeing this process, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The order lays out a clear enforcement trigger. “If the Secretary of Commerce finds that India has resumed directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” it states, the Secretary of State — after consultations with senior Cabinet officials and White House advisers — “shall recommend whether and to what extent I should take additional action as to India, including whether I should reimpose the additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent on imports of articles of India”.