Kamal Ghorui
India and the United States are set to resume trade negotiations this week, with a delegation of about a dozen officials travelling from New Delhi to Washington for discussions on the first phase of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA). The talks, scheduled from April 20 to 22, will be led by India’s chief negotiator Darpan Jain, additional secretary in the department of commerce, and will include officials from the customs department and the ministry of external affairs.“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 told PTI. This round of talks comes after major changes in the US tariff system, which have led both sides to reconsider the structure of the trade agreement finalised earlier this year and released on February 7.A key shift came after the US Supreme Court struck down reciprocal tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, prompting the US administration to introduce a temporary flat 10% tariff on all countries for 150 days from February 24. These developments resulted in postponing of a planned February meeting between the chief negotiators, with the rescheduled talks in Washington now set to take place under this updated tariff framework.With Washington now applying a uniform 10% tariff on all trading partners, the relative advantage India had under the earlier arrangement has diminished, leading to calls for revisiting the agreement. “So the agreement will have to be recalibrated, redrafted,” a government source has said, adding, “that amount of change will take place from their side”.“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 has said.In addition to tariff issues, the discussions are expected to address two investigations initiated by the US Trade Representative under Section 301 of its trade law. India has contested the allegations in these probes and has asked for them to be withdrawn, arguing that the initiation notices do not provide adequate justification. The talks are taking place at a time when countries are reassessing their positions under the revised tariff system amid changes in global trade with the US.At the same time, trade patterns for India have also seen changes. China has become India’s largest trading partner in 2025-26, replacing the US, which had held that position for four consecutive years until 2024-25.Latest figures show India’s exports to the US rose slightly by 0.92% to $87.3 billion in the last financial year, while imports grew by 15.95% to $52.9 billion. This resulted in a narrowing of the trade surplus to $34.4 billion in 2025-26, compared with $40.89 billion in the previous year.
