India presses on with US trade talks as new tariffs threaten exports

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 13:57

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar defends India’s energy policies and vows to protect farmers and small industries as Washington targets Russian oil imports with steep tariffs.

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India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar smiles as he holds an earphone during a joint news conference with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following their talks at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP)

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Saturday that trade negotiations with Washington remain ongoing, though New Delhi will protect key economic interests as new US tariffs are set to take effect.

Indian exports face duties of up to 50%, among the highest imposed by the US, in response to what the US perceives as India’s rising imports of Russian oil.

A 25% tariff has already been implemented, with an additional 25% scheduled for August 27.

“We have some red lines in the negotiations to be maintained and defended,” Jaishankar said at an Economic Times forum, stressing the need to safeguard India’s farmers and small manufacturers. Earlier this year, talks stalled over US demands to open India’s agricultural and dairy markets, even as bilateral trade reached $190 billion.

Jaishankar defended India’s energy policies, arguing that Washington’s concerns over Russian oil purchases were not applied equally to larger buyers such as China and the EU. “If the argument is oil, then there are other big buyers,” he said, noting that Russia–EU trade exceeds Russia–India volumes.

He described US President Donald Trump’s approach to foreign policy as “unusual,” citing its highly public nature compared with past administrations.

Economists at Capital Economics warned that the full tariffs could shave 0.8 percentage points off India’s growth this year and next, while posing longer-term risks to its competitiveness as a global manufacturing hub.

August visit canceled

A highly anticipated delegation of US trade negotiators set to travel to New Delhi between August 25 and 29, 2025, will no longer make the trip, according to sources cited by NDTV. The delay has thrown into uncertainty the next round of negotiations over a bilateral trade deal, with no new timeline established.

Officials from both capitals remain in contact, but a spokesperson confirmed that the sixth round of talks, expected to be led by Assistant US Trade Representative Brendan Lynch, has been put on indefinite hold. "No new date is decided yet," the unnamed official said.

The friction has also spilled into the defense sphere, with reports suggesting that India slowed discussions on major US arms acquisitions, although New Delhi has officially denied these claims. Analysts caution that the impasse could weaken broader US-India strategic cooperation, including within the Quad grouping and other Indo-Pacific security arrangements, making this one of the most serious tests in bilateral ties in decades.

Still, both sides insist they remain committed to pursuing a deal. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently described negotiations with India and other partners as "incomplete," while expressing some level of optimism that the Trump administration still hopes to finalize agreements by late October, though he admitted the timeline was "aspirational but achievable."

At the same time, India is pursuing parallel trade initiatives with partners such as the UK, EU, EFTA, and ASEAN. The future of its trade negotiations with Washington, however, remains uncertain.