India-US Close to a Trade Deal

November 14, 2025

Abhishek Vij

India’s foreign trade is changing again. The US has softened its stance towards India. Now, US President Trump’s concern is that he is losing the goodwill of the Indian people. He needs to regain his acceptance in India. This is just talk; in reality, India’s vast demand market is attractive to the US. The US is not only eager to sell crude oil and weapons, but also wants India to break its trade relationship with its main competitor, Russia.

India should import neither crude oil nor weapons from Russia. Now, this is impossible; no sovereign country would accept this condition, not even India. Trump imposed tariffs on India. Now, the next step is that all goods coming from India are selling at very high prices in the US markets. There is already a vicious cycle of inflation and unemployment there. Recently, millions of young people have taken to the streets to protest Trump’s decisions and tariff policy.

Even though Trump ridiculed him, deep down he knows he’s losing not only the goodwill of America but also of a major country like India. Now Trump is saying that they’ve negotiated a trade deal five times. It’s hoped a decision will be reached during the sixth round of negotiations. What’s the decision? That America will reduce its tariffs. This will reduce the burden on India’s exports. Export industries will revive, and this improvement could increase goodwill toward America among ordinary Indians. US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor has also been sworn in. It’s hoped he will help normalize trade terms. While the US claims that India has stopped buying oil from Russia, the reality is that India has reduced its oil purchases. Oil is no longer being purchased from two major Russian oil distributors, and other companies are selling oil to India. If a trade deal is reached after the sixth round of negotiations before November 27th, tariffs will be reduced. After that, there are long holidays, so this deal will be possible early next year. The US has already insisted that India buy more crude oil and weapons from it. India’s textile, pharmaceutical, seafood, and gems and jewelry sectors will come back into focus once taxes become cheaper.

At present, India and the US are unable to work together in organizations like the Quad due to the ongoing tariff war. They also stayed away from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization conference. If the situation normalizes, India can take advantage of this and appeal to all rich countries through the US to take up the fight against environmental pollution with full responsibility. They should be prepared to pay their dues.

At present, the US and other countries are not ready to contribute so much; they only want to make token contributions. This is why the fight against the environment and global warming by third countries, led by India, is being postponed. The severe winter predicted for the coming months is also a result of environmental pollution. Therefore, if an atmosphere of goodwill is being rekindled between India and the United States, the fight against environmental pollution or global warming should not be neglected.