Business & Economics
U.S. Pulls Out of 6th India BTA Round After Slapping 50 % Tariffs
On 16-17 Aug 2025 Washington told New Delhi its delegation would skip the 25-29 Aug Bilateral Trade Agreement talks, effectively freezing negotiations until a new 50 % tariff regime on Indian goods is addressed.
Focusing Facts
- First 25 % tariff on Indian imports took effect 7 Aug 2025; a second 25 % surcharge is slated for 27 Aug 2025, bringing total duties to 50 %.
- The deferred sixth BTA negotiating round had been fixed for 25-29 Aug 2025 in New Delhi.
- India’s exports to the U.S. reached $33.53 billion during Apr-Jul 2025, up 21.64 % year-on-year.
Context
Trade threats have derailed talks before: in 1998 the U.S. froze economic dialogue and imposed sanctions within days of India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests, only resuming a year later. The current episode echoes the 1930 Smoot-Hawley cycle—tariffs justified for domestic politics spill into foreign-policy leverage—while also recalling the collapse of the 2008 Doha Round when India refused to open its farm sector. Structurally, this is part of the post-2018 trend of weaponising tariffs to pursue non-trade goals (here India’s oil purchases from Russia). It underscores the frailty of the much-touted U.S.–India “strategic partnership” and the difficulty of reconciling America’s agribusiness agenda with India’s small-holder politics. Over a 100-year horizon the moment matters less for the absolute numbers—India-U.S. trade is only 0.7 % of global flows—but more as a data point in the long pendulum between liberalisation and protectionism; how each side responds will signal whether the emerging multipolar order leans toward fragmented blocs or renewed rule-making.
Perspectives
Nationalist/pro-government outlets
e.g., Swarajyamag, Zee Business, India TV News — They present the shelved sixth-round talks as a consequence of Prime Minister Modi drawing a firm ‘red line’ to protect Indian farmers and dairy interests from unfair U.S. demands. The patriotic framing glorifies Modi’s stance and casts Washington as the sole aggressor, glossing over the possible economic costs of a prolonged tariff war that these outlets’ own readership might bear.
Business-focused economic press
e.g., Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Standard — They portray the postponement largely as a logistical wrinkle in otherwise ‘ongoing, multi-level’ negotiations, stressing the need to stay engaged so both sides can still clinch an interim BTA and hit the US$500 billion trade target. A market-stability outlook leads them to underplay the political acrimony and human-level impacts of steep U.S. tariffs, prioritising reassurance for exporters and investors over hard-nosed critique.
Mainstream national dailies
e.g., The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, Hindustan Times — They emphasize that the U.S.-imposed 50 % tariff and insistence on agri-dairy access have forced a deferment, while reiterating India’s stance that it cannot endanger the livelihoods of small farmers. Reliance on unnamed officials and press-agency copy leaves these reports echoing government lines and offers limited scrutiny of how long the deadlock can persist or what concessions India might eventually make.