A team of officials from the United States Trade Representative (USTR), led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, will begin four days of trade talks with India on Monday. These talks in Delhi will focus on finalising an interim trade agreement between the two countries. The discussions follow the framework agreed upon by both sides in February.
India's negotiating team will be led by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce. According to the commerce ministry, the two countries will work on finalising details of the interim pact while advancing negotiations under the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
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Key areas of discussion include market access, non-tariff barriers, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion and economic security cooperation.
On the development, government sources told The Indian Express that there is an urgency to conclude the talks as the US is expected to introduce a new tariff framework before July 24, replacing reciprocal tariffs announced earlier by President Donald Trump.
What To Expect From India-US Talks?
On Feb. 7, India and the US issued a joint statement outlining the framework for the first phase of a BTA. The two sides are now working to finalise its legal text. The framework reaffirmed their commitment to broader trade negotiations.
One of the key highlights of this proposed agreement was that the US agreed to lower tariffs on Indian goods to 18% and remove certain duties linked to India's purchase of Russian oil. The proposed tariff reduction comes as a major relief for India after months of trade tensions with the US. Earlier, steep tariffs of up to 50% had affected Indian exports and investor sentiment.
With the latest talks, officials believe greater clarity on the trade deal could help restore business confidence. However, the Indian officials have described some of Washington's demands as difficult and “unconventional”.
A senior government official told The Indian Express that India may prefer the 10% tariff regime rather than signing a deal that affects the country's sovereign decisions on oil imports and sensitive farm sectors. In February, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's reciprocal tariff policy. Following the ruling, the US introduced a uniform 10% tariff on imports from all countries for a 150-day period. This is expected to give India an edge in the latest discussions.
India has maintained that it will continue buying Russian crude oil despite pressure from Washington. The US had earlier imposed an additional 25% tariff on India over purchases of Russian oil, resulting in overall 50% tariffs.
Under the framework agreed earlier this year, India had proposed reducing or eliminating tariffs on several US industrial and agricultural products. These included animal feed ingredients, fruits, tree nuts, soybean oil, wine and spirits. Additionally, New Delhi had also indicated plans to purchase about USD 500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft, technology goods and coking coal over five years.
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However, the situation may have changed in view of the US Supreme Court's order and its impact may be visible in June talks.
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