A delegation from the office of US Trade Representative (USTR) will arrive here on Tuesday for discussions on “all trade-related issues” that will include an agreement to bring down additional tariffs imposed on Indian imports by the US, sources said.
“Talks will be on all trade related issues,” a senior official said without giving details. The talks will be held on December 10 and December 11.
Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer to lead talks
The visiting team will be led by Deputy US Trade Representative Rick Switzer. Assistant USTR Brendan Lynch who is Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia will also be part of the delegation.
Switzer serves as the lead of the US negotiating team for the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) while Lynch is the chief negotiator, In US political hireachy Switzer has a higher rank.
MEA on the US trade reps’ visit
“This visit is a familiarisation visit and also to meet senior officials. Both governments remain engaged with a view to concluding fair, balanced and mutually beneficial multi sectoral bilateral trade agreement,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said at the weekly media briefing.
The meetings that are being planned with the commerce ministry officials have not been labelled as a formal round. Both aides have held six rounds of negotiations and other meetings since March 2025.
India and the US are engaged on two fronts regarding a trade agreement. The first part is a package that can address reciprocal and penal tariffs on India that total to 50% The second part of trade talks is for a more comprehensive BTA. The US has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on Indian imports to bridge the trade gap and another 25% over India’s crude oil purchases from Russia. The deal on additional tariffs will be in the nature of an initial pact which will then be a launchpad for a more ambitious BTA.
The US currently charges 50% additional duties on Indian goods – 25% reciprocal tariff to address the trade deficit and another 25% for buying Russian oil.
These tariffs have led to sharp decline in the Indian shipments to the US of traditional goods like clothing, marine products, engineering goods and leather. Overall merchandise exports to the US fell 8.59% on year to $ 6.30 billion.
Earlier, Indian officials have said that negotiations have covered significant ground and talks are at final stages to address the additional tariff burden India faces.
It was the BTA that India and US had agreed to enter into on February 13 till 25% reciprocal tariffs and then another 25% penal tariffs on India for buying Russian oil were announced. The initial deadline for the first tranche of the BTA was fall of 2025. The extra tariffs focussed talks to addressing the additional tariffs, away from a comprehensive trade agreement.
The last round of physical meetings for a trade deal between the two sides were held in October.
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