New Delhi, Feb. 3 -- After a rocky ride, an India-US trade deal has finally been announced. It follows what was called the "mother of all deals" between India and the EU and Sunday's long-horizon outline of growth policies as part of India's budget for 2026-27. The budget's emphasis on competitiveness may well have done its own bit of trade diplomacy, prompting the US to reduce its tariffs on Indian exports from a whopping 50% to 18% and finalize the trade deal.

The news comes as a huge relief to Indian exporters, who now have preferential access to two of their topmost export markets-the US and EU-along with others like the UAE and UK.

While the fine-print of the India-US deal is yet to be seen, the tariff announcement suggests that it...