India and the US are set to resume trade negotiations after a period of strained trade ties, a consequence of Trump’s punitive tariffs on India. Officials from India and the US will hold face-to-face talks in New Delhi on Tuesday (16th September) for the first time since the US imposed 50% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, which took effect on August 27, 2025.
“The chief negotiator of the US (Brendan Lynch) is visiting India tonight,” India’s chief negotiator for the bilateral trade talks and special secretary, commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, confirmed on Monday afternoon (15th September). “This is not an official ‘round’ of negotiations, but it will definitely be a discussion on the trade talks and on trying to see how we can reach an agreement between India and the US,” said Agrawal. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said both sides would be meeting with a “positive frame of mind” to discuss matters related to trade.
India and the US were scheduled to hold the sixth round of trade talks in August, but the meeting was postponed after Trump imposed additional 25% tariffs on India in addition to the 25% reciprocal tariffs imposed in April, making the cumulative US tariffs on India 50%, which is the highest tax levied on any US trading partner.
Trump has been facing a lot of criticism, globally as well as domestically, for selectively imposing blatantly unfair tariffs on India for buying Russian oil and sparing China, while the latter continues to be the biggest importer of Russian oil. Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared Trump’s tariffs illegal and said that the US President exceeded his power in imposing the sweeping tariffs.
