India‑U.S. trade talks start

India and the United States opened three days of trade talks in Washington on April 20, with tariff relief at the center of the agenda. (newindianexpress.com) India’s delegation is being led by Darpan Jain, an additional secretary in the commerce department, and includes about a dozen officials. The meetings run from April 20 to April 22 and are focused on the first phase of a proposed bilateral trade agreement. (newindianexpress.com) The immediate trigger is a U.S. import surcharge announced on February 20 and applied from February 24: a flat 10% tariff on imports from all countries for 150 days. The White House proclamation says the measure runs through July 24 unless Congress acts to extend or change it. (whitehouse.gov) (ey.com) Those tariff changes forced both sides to rework the draft trade framework they had been building earlier this year. Indian and U.S. officials had announced an interim trade framework on February 6, but the new across-the-board U.S. tariff altered the terms under which Indian exporters would sell into the American market. (whitehouse.gov) (financialexpress.com) The talks sit inside a larger target set by both governments in 2025: raise bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 and negotiate a bilateral trade agreement in stages. A March 2025 meeting in New Delhi followed that target, and the current Washington round is the first in-person negotiating session since October, according to Indian media reports. (pib.gov.in) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) A U.S. trade deal matters more to India now because the United States has remained India’s largest trading partner in recent years, and a temporary 10% duty can hit price-sensitive exports quickly. The negotiating aim is narrower than a full free-trade pact: reduce tariff friction, lock in sector-by-sector concessions, and move a first tranche before broader issues are settled. (newindianexpress.com) (ustr.gov) Indian officials have also linked the timing to a recent call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump. Reports on April 15 said the conversation helped clear political space for negotiators to resume face-to-face bargaining after weeks of tariff uncertainty. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (moneycontrol.com) The Washington meetings are not expected to finish the full deal by themselves. They are meant to test whether both sides can turn a temporary tariff shock into a narrower agreement before the U.S. surcharge’s 150-day clock runs out in late July. (whitehouse.gov) (rediff.com)