Overview

• A US trade delegation’s scheduled August 25–29 visit to New Delhi for the sixth round of negotiations has been postponed with no new dates confirmed
• A 25 percent tariff on Indian exports took effect on August 7 and a secondary 25 percent levy tied to India’s Russian oil imports remains set to begin on August 27
• The Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska generated public signals that the secondary tariff could be held in abeyance, but no formal reprieve has been granted
• India has lodged formal objections to the tariff linkage, defending its Russian oil purchases as essential for energy security for 1.4 billion people
• Key disputes over US demands for greater access to India’s agriculture and dairy sectors remain unresolved, prolonging the negotiation impasse