India and the United States are set to resume trade negotiations this week, with a delegation of about a dozen officials from New Delhi traveling to Washington for discussions on the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA).
The talks, scheduled to be held from April 20-22, will be led by India’s chief negotiator Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, and will include officials from the Customs Department and the Ministry of External Affairs.“The meeting will be held from April 20 to 22 in Washington, D.C. The team is led by Indian chief negotiator Darpan Jain (Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce). Officials from the Ministry of Customs and External Affairs are also part of the Indian team,” an official told PTI.
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An Indian delegation will visit Washington next week to resume talks on the trade deal between India and the United States
This round of talks comes after major changes to the US tariff regime, which prompted the two sides to reconsider the structure of the trade agreement that was finalized earlier this year and released on February 7.The major shift came after the US Supreme Court struck down reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, prompting the US administration to impose a temporary fixed tariff of 10% on all countries for 150 days from February 24.
These developments led to the postponement of a planned February meeting between lead negotiators, and the rescheduled talks are now scheduled to take place in Washington under this updated tariff framework.With Washington now applying a uniform 10% tariff to all trading partners, the comparative advantage India enjoyed under the previous arrangement has diminished, leading to calls to reconsider the agreement. “So the agreement will have to be recalibrated and rewritten,” a government source said, adding that “this amount of change will happen on their part.”“In our case, since the agreement was not signed, we have an option where we can now change whatever needs to be changed,” the source said.In addition to tariff issues, discussions are expected to address two investigations initiated by the US Trade Representative under Section 301 of the US Trade Act. India has disputed the allegations in these investigations and requested their withdrawal, arguing that the commencement notices do not provide sufficient justification. The talks are taking place at a time when countries are reevaluating their positions under the revised tariff regime amid changes in global trade with the United States.At the same time, trade patterns in India have also witnessed changes. China becomes India’s largest trading partner in 2025-2026, replacing the United States, which held this position for four consecutive years until 2024-2025.Latest figures show that India’s exports to the US rose marginally by 0.92% to $87.3 billion in the last fiscal year, while imports grew by 15.95% to $52.9 billion. This led to the trade surplus shrinking to $34.4 billion in 2025-2026, compared to $40.89 billion in the previous year.