India should press the United States to withdraw the 25% ‘Russian oil’ tariffs before entering any trade agreement, according to a new report from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).
The report advised that India complete its exit from sanctioned Russian oil imports, secure a rollback of the tariffs to restore competitiveness, and only then resume balanced trade negotiations with Washington.
GTRI noted that India has already halted imports from sanctioned Russian firms, a step acknowledged by U.S. President Donald Trump. With that phase completed, the next focus should be on convincing Washington to remove the 25% tariff, which would lower the overall U.S. duty burden on Indian exports from 50% to 25%.
Such a rollback, the report said, would help strengthen India’s competitiveness in critical export sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, and pharmaceuticals.
The think tank cautioned against rushing into a full trade agreement, suggesting that negotiations should resume only after achieving tariff parity with other partners like the European Union, targeting average industrial tariffs near 15%.
GTRI further recommended that India wait for the outcome of the ongoing U.S. Supreme Court case examining whether the president has authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose such tariffs.
Earlier, on November 11, 2025, President Trump said that the United States and India were ‘pretty close’ to reaching a trade deal and confirmed that tariffs on Indian goods would soon be reduced. He also noted that India had “stopped buying Russian oil very substantially,” signalling a potential pathway to lower trade barriers.
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