India and the US have decided to reschedule the proposed meeting of their chief negotiators, supposed to be held in Washington from Monday, to finalise the text for the interim trade pact, sources said on Sunday. The three-day meeting was scheduled to begin from February 23 in the US.
The development is important following the US Supreme Court’s verdict against sweeping import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on trade partners. Trump on Friday imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all countries, including India, from February 24 for 150 days after the court verdict.
“With regards to the visit of the Indian team of negotiators to the US for the India-US trade deal, the two sides are of the view that the proposed visit of the Indian Chief Negotiator and the team be scheduled after each side has had the time to evaluate the latest developments and their implications. The meeting will be rescheduled at a mutually convenient date,” sources in the commerce ministry said. Darpan Jain, joint secretary in the ministry, is the chief negotiator of India.
The US had imposed a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on India in August 2025. Later, an additional 25 per cent duty was imposed for buying Russian crude oil, taking the total tariffs on India to 50 per cent.India and the US, earlier this month, agreed on a framework to finalise an interim trade deal, under which Washington will cut down the tariffs to 18 per cent. So far, the punitive 25 per cent has been removed. The remaining 25 per cent exists.Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said the deal may be signed in March and implemented in April.
During 2021-25, the US was India’s largest trading partner in goods. The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India’s total exports, 6.22 per cent of its imports, and 10.73 per cent of its bilateral trade. In 2024-25, bilateral trade totalled $186 billion ($86.5 billion in exports and $45.3 billion in imports).
