Indian officials will travel to Washington on April 20 for three days of talks with US counterparts on the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement, an official said, with about a dozen officers part of the delegation.
"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," the official said.
With the US tariff landscape having shifted, both sides may revisit the agreement’s framework, the text of which was released on February 7.
Following a US Supreme Court decision against sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on multiple countries, the administration imposed a 10% tariff on all countries from February 24 for 150 days.
Two unilateral investigations launched by the US Trade Representative (USTR) may also figure in the discussions. India has strongly rejected allegations made by the USTR in those investigations under Section 301 of US trade law and has sought their termination, saying the initiation notice failed to provide a cogent rationale to substantiate the claims.
Under the framework, the US had agreed to cut tariffs on India to 18% from 50%. It had removed 25% tariffs on Indian goods imposed over purchases of Russian oil and was to reduce the remaining 25% to 18% under the pact.
However, on February 20, the US Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The president subsequently announced a 10% tariff on all countries for 150 days, effective February 24.
In light of these changes, a meeting between the chief negotiators of India and the US scheduled for February was postponed. They will now meet in Washington from April 20, 2026.
Under the agreed framework, India proposed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
India had also expressed its intentions to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.
Further, when India finalised the deal, it enjoyed a comparative advantage over its competitor countries.
Now, with all US trading partners facing a uniform 10 per cent tariff, the pact requires recalibration. "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.
As the circumstances have changed, every country is engaging with the US to see what is going to be the nature of their trade agreements with America.
Notably, China has overtaken the United States to become India’s largest trading partner in 2025–26, after the US had held the position for four consecutive years till 2024–25.
The country's outbound shipments to the US grew marginally 0.92 per cent to USD 87.3 billion during the last fiscal year, while imports increased 15.95 per cent to USD 52.9 billion. The trade surplus declined to USD 34.4 billion in 2025-26 from USD 40.89 billion in 2024-25.