India, US to resume talks for bilateral trade agreement tomorrow

New Delhi: India will resume trade discussions with the US on 16 September, with Washington’s chief negotiator scheduled to arrive in New Delhi late Monday, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said.

The talks for a bilateral trade agreement were to be held on 25 August but postponed as the US imposed an additional 25% levy on Indian goods from 27 August as a penalty for buying Russian oil. With the US’s tariffs at 50%, India is among the most heavily penalised US trading partners.

Barthwal said trade discussions with the US were continuing at multiple levels—including diplomatic, ministerial, and at the level of chief negotiators.

“On the trade front, the team led by the [US] chief negotiator will be coming to India, and based on those discussions, further course of action will be decided. Overall, there is a positive frame of mind in both countries with respect to trade issues,” Barthwal added.

The resumption of talks come as India and the US seek to deepen economic ties despite recent strains over tariffs and market access. The negotiators are expected to focus on longstanding hurdles, including goods and services trade, investment rules, and supply chain resilience.

Brendan Lynch, the US’s chief negotiator, will meet his Indian counterpart, Rajesh Agrawal, special secretary in the commerce department, to advance negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.

Mint reported earlier this month that the talks would restart and that the first tranche of the deal would be sealed before the deadline set by both leaders, which is the fall of 2025—extending until November in the Indian calendar.

The talks resumed after US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence on 10 September that the negotiations would reach an early conclusion.

Modi, in a post on X, underlined the strength of the India-US partnership and stressed that the ongoing negotiations would help unlock “the limitless potential” between the two economies.

The Indian government had earlier said it expected to finalise a bilateral trade agreement with the US by November.

A window forward

Agrawal said talks with the US would resume from Tuesday with Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia.

“Tomorrow, we will be holding talks to see what can be worked out. It will not be the sixth round of negotiations but rather discussions on the trade talks and trying to see how we can reach an agreement between India and the US,” Agrawal told reporters.

He added that while virtual meetings had been taking place almost every week, progress had been limited. “Now we see a window to carry this forward,” Agrawal added.

Escalating tensions between India and the US derailed trade negotiations between the two countries after five rounds of talks. The collapse was in part due to disputes over opening India’s farm and dairy markets and Washington’s demand that New Delhi halt its Russian oil imports.

India, however, pushed back sharply, and began to stitch trading ties with other nations, including China.

India’s ministry of external affairs said the country was being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil, and that like any major economy, the government would take all necessary measures to safeguard India’s national interests and economic security.