India and U.S. Resume Trade Talks After Tariff Shift

India and the United States are set to resume trade talks in Washington on Monday as both sides revisit the shape of a bilateral trade agreement after a series of tariff changes and legal setbacks in the United States altered the original framework.

About a dozen Indian officials are expected to take part in three days of meetings from April 20 to April 22, led by Darpan Jain, the additional secretary in India’s Commerce Ministry and chief negotiator for the talks, according to an official cited by PTI. Officials from India’s customs service and the External Affairs Ministry are also part of the delegation.

The discussions come at a sensitive moment for the two governments. The original outline for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement was released on February 7, but it was built around tariff assumptions that have since shifted. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s broad global tariffs, and after that ruling the administration imposed a uniform 10% tariff on all countries for 150 days starting February 24.

That change has forced both sides to reconsider how much value remains in the earlier draft arrangement. Under that framework, the United States had agreed to lower tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%, while also removing 25% duties tied to India’s purchases of Russian oil and reducing the remaining 25% levy to 18%. Those terms were meant to create room for a broader deal, but they now sit alongside a different tariff environment in Washington.

The talks may also touch on two unilateral investigations launched by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under Section 301. India has pushed back against those probes, saying the basis for them is inadequate and asking that they be terminated because, it argues, the initiation notices do not provide enough evidence to support the claims.

Agricultural trade is expected to remain one of the most sensitive parts of the negotiations. In earlier discussions, India had indicated it could ease or remove duties on a wide range of U.S. industrial goods and farm products, including feedstock such as DDGs and red sorghum, as well as nuts, fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits. India had also signaled that it could increase purchases of U.S. energy, aircraft components, precious metals and technology products over five years.

But with tariffs now flattened across trading partners, officials say the relative advantage built into the draft deal has narrowed. A government source quoted in the report said the agreement would need to be “recalibrated” and “redrafted,” adding that India still has room to change terms because no final pact has been signed.

The shift has already delayed earlier plans for engagement. A meeting between chief negotiators that had been expected in February was postponed and is now scheduled for this week in Washington.

The broader trade backdrop has also changed. China became India’s largest trading partner in 2025-26, overtaking the United States, which had held that position for four straight years through 2024-25. Trade data show India’s exports to the U.S. rose 0.92% to $87.3 billion in the last fiscal year, while imports from the U.S. increased 15.95% to $52.9 billion. That left India with a trade surplus of $34.4 billion, down from $40.89 billion a year earlier.

For wine and spirits exporters, any revision of duties could affect pricing and shipment flows between the two countries if agricultural concessions are rewritten as part of a new deal structure.