Not Round Six, but a restart: Lynch in Delhi for day-long India-US trade huddle

New Delhi: Brendan Lynch, Washington’s point person for South and Central Asia, arrived in Delhi on Monday night for a single day of talks on Tuesday, the first in-person engagement since the United States doubled duties on Indian imports to as much as 50 percent late last month.

The move was linked to India’s continued purchases of Russian crude, with an extra 25 percent levy added on top of existing tariffs.

India’s chief trade negotiator Rajesh Agrawal said the interaction is not a formal sixth round of the Bilateral Trade Agreement talks, which were paused after the tariff hike, but a working discussion to map the road ahead. 

“We have been speaking every week on video but progress was slow given the overall environment. There now appears to be a window,” he noted, adding that today’s meeting will help decide the next steps rather than count as a negotiating round.

Five rounds of BTA negotiations have already taken place. The sixth, planned for August 25-29, was deferred after the tariff announcement. Agrawal reiterated that both sides are exploring ways to regain momentum without prejudging outcomes.

Lynch, who serves as Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, oversees the US-India Trade Policy Forum and broader regional frameworks, and will lead the American side in today’s huddle. 

The tariff shock is already showing up in the numbers. India’s goods exports to the US slipped from $8.01 billion in July to $6.86 billion in August, even as overall exports fell to a nine-month low of $35.10 billion. Officials expect the full impact of higher duties to play out over the coming months. 

New Delhi has called the new duties “unfair and unreasonable” and continues to defend its energy sourcing as a matter of national interest and market dynamics.

For now, both capitals are testing the waters to see if today’s conversation can reopen a path to a negotiated landing, even if it is not yet a numbered round.