India-US Relations - Tariffs & Ties

In 2026 the India-US economic relationship swung from confrontation to deal-making inside a single year. After Indian goods faced US reciprocal duties as high as 50 per cent, New Delhi and Washington unveiled a framework interim trade pact on 7 February 2026 that pared the headline rate to 18 per cent and zeroed it out on a swathe of exports. The thaw is real but partial: a forced-labour investigation has since landed a 10 per cent surcharge on just over half of India's shipments, a $100,000 charge on new H-1B petitions still stings, and the Senate has passed a bill to tax the biggest buyers of Russian energy at 100 percent. On 3 September Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal set the closing condition for the wider pact, a US rate better than India's competitors get; six days later the Commerce Secretary called the deal more or less finalised, but unsigned.

• India-US relations
• reciprocal tariffs
• Bilateral Trade Agreement
• Section 301
• H-1B
• G20 FMCBG
• Piyush Goyal
• Rajesh Agrawal
• preferential market access
• MFN tariffs
• executive tariffs