- Sitharaman says India-US trade talks have hit a plateau
- More concessions "very, very difficult" for both sides
- New US law allows 100% tariffs on Russian oil buyers like India
- India's exports to the US hit $42.79 billion from April to August
TRADE talks between India and the United States have reached a plateau, and further concessions may be difficult, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Monday.
Her comments are New Delhi's strongest public acknowledgment yet that negotiations on key issues have stalled. Both countries have been working toward a deal since February 2025, aiming to strengthen economic ties and resolve difficult market access issues.
Sitharaman said talks had reached a point beyond which additional give and take would be "very, very difficult" for both sides, citing limited room to maneuver.
India-US trade agreement went from 'done and dusted' to 'interim agreement'
"It's been a hard and very vigorously negotiated agreement," she said at an event in New Delhi, adding that negotiations were continuing.
The Russian oil problem
The scope for a final compromise has narrowed since US President Donald Trump signed into law a congressional bill giving him authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries buying significant amounts of Russian oil, including India and China.
India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and ranks among the largest buyers of Russian oil. Those purchases are seen as helping Moscow withstand sweeping Western sanctions imposed since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The threat of new US tariffs has put Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an energy policy bind. Cutting Russian oil imports could push up fuel prices or strain government finances, while continuing them could cripple exports to India's largest market.
Goyal pitches India's skilled workforce to American manufacturers in Wisconsin
India has also warned that Washington's new measures could harm relations between the two countries.
Last week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said a trade agreement was not imminent, after meeting Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal in the United States.
What's at stake
The United States is India's top export destination. India's goods shipments to the US rose to $42.79 billion from April to August, up from $40.39 billion a year earlier, according to the latest Indian official data.
Sitharaman said the balance of trade was in India's favor, leaving the deficit on Washington's side.
"They would want to reduce that imbalance," she said.
Reuters reported earlier this year that the two sides had failed to reach a consensus, with New Delhi holding out for a better deal while Washington sought more concessions.
Ajay Srivastava, founder of the New Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative and a former trade official, urged India to hold firm.
India and Canada preparing to take ties to 'higher level,' says Jaishankar
"India should stop giving away concessions while the US trade deal remains unfinished," he said.
'You have to give and take'
Sitharaman criticized the growing use of tariffs to tackle trade imbalances, describing it as "weaponizing" them. She said such levies had moved beyond their role as a negotiating tool.
She pointed to India's own large trade deficit with China, suggesting New Delhi would rather resolve that imbalance through talks than tariffs.
"I can take the same position, can I not, with China? It is so lopsided, it is terribly against me, but no you can't, you have to negotiate, you have to give and take," she said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
