As trade talks between India and the United States resume, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro has stated, "India is coming to the table". This comes amidst ongoing tensions over tariffs and India's purchase of Russian oil.

India and the United States are set to hold trade talks in New Delhi. The meeting is taking place after President Trump imposed punitive tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. The US Trade Representative for South Asia, Brendan Lynch, will be in New Delhi for the discussions with Indian chief negotiator Rajesh Agarwal. These talks are part of broader bilateral trade negotiations.

The backdrop to these discussions is a significant increase in tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Indian imports. Trump last month slapped a punitive 25% levy on India from August 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50%, as part of Washington's efforts to step up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. An additional 25% tariff came into effect at the beginning of August. India has called the tariffs unreasonable and unjustified.

Navarro has been a strident critic of India, alleging that India's crude oil procurement from Russia is funding the Russian war machinery against Ukraine. He also called the ongoing situation 'Modi's war' for India's continued purchases of Russian crude oil. Navarro remarked that "Indian refiners got in bed with the Russian refiners immediately after the invasion, and they're making out like bandits". He added, "They use that money to buy Russian oil, and then the Russians use that to buy weapons".

These statements contrast with the conciliatory tone from President Trump, who expressed optimism about finalizing a trade deal. Trump said that India and America are "continuing negotiations to address the trade barriers" and that he was "certain" there would be "no difficulty" in the talks being successful. Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded by saying that teams from both countries are working to conclude these discussions at the earliest.

Despite the positive sentiments, the U.S. has asked G7 countries to ramp up pressure on countries buying Russian oil, to end the war in Ukraine, as per a joint statement released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Trump administration officials called India an “oil money laundromat for the Kremlin” and demanded New Delhi choose between America and Russia-China alignment.

India's Ministry of Commerce has noted a deterioration in trade figures, with exports to the U.S. declining from $8.01 billion in July to $6.86 billion in August. Total goods exports fell to a nine-month low of $35.10 billion in August from $37.24 billion in July, while the trade deficit narrowed to $26.49 billion. The full impact of the increased tariffs will likely become more evident in the following month's data. The US negotiator's visit comes at a time when the Indian exporters have begun facing a loss of business as the US importers have begun cancelling orders due to steep tariffs on India compared to other countries.

India and the US on February 13 agreed to conclude the first tranche of Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by October 2025. The two countries finalized the detailed terms of reference for negotiations of the BTA on March 29. On April 22, US Vice President JD Vance officially announced the finalization of the terms of reference.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "There have been discussions going through diplomatic level, on level of trade, on level of chief negotiators, on level of ministers. And on the trade front, a team of US trade negotiators would be coming to India for discussions". He added, "Further courses of action will also be discussed. But overall, there is a positive frame of mind in both countries with respect to trade issues".