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Published : 18 Sep 2025, 06:04 PM
The US may soon scrap the penal import tariff on Indian goods and also cut reciprocal tariff to 10-15 percent from the existing 25 percent, India's Chief Economist Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday.
"My personal confidence is that in the next couple of months, if not earlier, we will see a resolution to at least to the extra penal tariff of 25 percent," Nageswaran said at a event in Kolkata.
"It may also be the case that reciprocal tariff of 25 percent may also come down to levels, which we were earlier anticipating somewhere between 10 percent and 15 percent."
India and the US held "positive" and "forward-looking" trade discussions on Tuesday, New Delhi said, raising hopes for a breakthrough after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on the South Asian nation for buying Russian oil.
Trump slapped a punitive 25 percent levy on India from Aug 27, doubling overall tariffs to 50 percent, as part of Washington's efforts to step up pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they spoke by phone on Tuesday with the US president saying he thanked Modi for his help in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Neither gave any detail of any agreement on Ukraine, but the call appeared to be a sign of further thawing of US-Indian tensions, which blew up in recent months raising questions about the future relationship between the partners, which share concerns about China.
Trump also struck a more conciliatory tone in statements last week and expressed optimism that they could finalise a trade deal.
Indian stocks extended gains after Nageswaran's comments on easing trade tensions, with the benchmark Nifty 50 (NSEI), opens new tab hitting one-week highs and notching it's highest close since Jul 9.
