India may not be extended a waiver from US President Donald Trump’s threatened reciprocal tariffs on April 2, but it is hoping to get a deferral. A postponement of tariffs would give more time to negotiators of the India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) to flesh out the broad contours agreed in the Delhi meeting, sources have said.

Sectoral talks, which are to begin soon between the two sides virtually, will focus on specific areas of US interest such as agriculture products, medical equipment, automobiles, including electric vehicles and motorbikes, and spirits, indicating India’s seriousness in lowering tariffs and other barriers, a source tracking the matter told businessline.

“Trump may not give a waiver to India from the reciprocal tariffs on April 2, as he would want to keep the pressure on for tariff cuts. But there may be a deferral as New Delhi has been making honest attempts at giving the US greater market access without threatening reciprocal action. At least one could hope for that,” the source said.

The US President has been giving mixed signals on his plans for India on April 2. On Friday, he pointed out that India was one of the highest-tariffing nations in the world but added that he had good talks with Modi (last month) and things were going to work out between the two countries.

Earlier he had said that he would impose reciprocal tariffs on high-tariffing nations like India if they did not bring down their tariffs on US goods.

In the four-day intense talks between top officials from the two sides in New Delhi that concluded on Saturday, the sides decided to deepen bilateral cooperation in priority areas including increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and deepening supply chain integration in a mutually beneficial manner, according to a brief by the Commerce Department.

The government is now reaching out to the industry for more inputs to prepare for the sectoral talks, the source said.

Apart from the priority areas related to tariff cuts, the US brought to the table all other issues it has been highlighting for some time including e-commerce, data mobility, intellectual property, quality control orders, government procurement, import licensing & local sourcing, the source added.

“The terms of reference for the BTA is not final yet. Once both sides agree to it, there would be clarity on what the pact would include apart from tariffs and non-tariff barriers,” the source said.

Trump and Modi had agreed to work on a mutually beneficial and fair BTA between the two sides that could more than double bilateral annual trade to $500 billion.

The US is India’s largest trade and export partner with exports to the country at $77.51 billion and imports at $42.19 billion in FY24.

Published on March 30, 2025