About a dozen Indian officials will be in Washington from April 20 for a three-day round of talks with US authorities on the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA), at a time when changes in US tariff policy have forced both sides to revisit the draft framework.
“The meeting will happen from April 20-22 in Washington DC. India's chief negotiator Darpan Jain (additional secretary in the department of commerce) is leading the team. Officers from customs and external affairs ministry are also part of the Indian team,” an official said.
The discussions come after a shift in the US tariff regime. The US Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Soon after, the US imposed a flat 10 per cent tariff on all countries for 150 days starting February 24. That change has altered the basis on which India and the US were negotiating.
The draft framework released on February 7 had outlined tariff reductions on both sides. The US had agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent.
It had also removed a 25 per cent tariff linked to India’s purchase of Russian oil, with a plan to reduce the remaining duties under the pact.
India, for its part, had proposed reducing or removing tariffs on US industrial goods and several agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits.
It had also indicated plans to import $500 billion worth of US goods over five years, covering energy, aircraft and parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal.
With the US moving to a uniform 10 per cent tariff for all trading partners, the earlier structure of the agreement has come under review.
A government source said, “So the agreement will have to be recalibrated, redrafted,” adding, “that amount of change will take place from their side”.
A meeting between chief negotiators scheduled in February was postponed after the court ruling and subsequent tariff decision. The April 20-22 talks are expected to restart that process.
Two investigations by the US Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 are also likely to come up. India has rejected the allegations in those probes and has asked for them to be dropped, saying the notices do not provide sufficient basis.
“In our case, since the agreement has not been signed, we have got the option where we can right now change whatever needs to be changed,” the source said.
The talks are taking place as trade patterns shift. China has become India’s largest trading partner in 2025-26, replacing the US after four years.
India’s exports to the US rose 0.92 per cent to $87.3 billion in the last fiscal, while imports grew 15.95 per cent to $52.9 billion. The trade surplus narrowed to $34.4 billion from $40.89 billion in 2024-25.