United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said he will arrive in India on Tuesday to advance US President Donald Trump’s America First policy at the 2026 Raisina Dialogue.
He added that he was looking forward to “discussing how to create ‘win-wins’ for the United States and India”.
The Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference held in Delhi. It is organised by the think-tank Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.
The “America First” policy refers to the supposed US-centric trade and foreign measures implemented by the Trump administration. The tariffs imposed by Washington in April on dozens of countries, including India, were part of these measures.
The US Department of State said on Monday that during the visit from Tuesday to Friday, Landau will meet Indian officials to “deepen commercial and economic ties” and “increase market access for American businesses; and advance our shared vision for a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.
He will also discuss bilateral cooperation on defence, critical minerals and counternarcotics with Indian officials, the state department added.
Landau’s visit comes amid uncertainty over the trade deal negotiations and the conflict in West Asia.
The tariffs, imposed under Trump’s America First policy, were reduced after an interim bilateral trade deal was agreed to on February 2.
Under the framework, US tariffs on Indian goods would have been reduced to 18% from a combined rate of 50%. The earlier rate of 50% had included a punitive levy of 25% imposed in August over India’s purchase of Russian oil.
However, negotiations on the final deal have been postponed after the US Supreme Court on February 20 struck down Trump’s global tariffs, ruling that he had exceeded his authority.
The judges said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act that Trump had invoked “does not authorise the president to impose tariffs”.
After the Supreme Court struck down his levies, Trump imposed a temporary 10% tariff on goods imported into the US, citing his authority under the 1974 Trade Act.
The new tariff rate is for a maximum of 150 days, unless the US Congress approves an extension.
Additionally, the US president on February 21 said that he was also increasing the tariffs to the “fully allowed, and legally tested” level of 15% from 10% with immediate effect. However, it is unclear as to when the increased tariff rate would take effect.
This has left the status of US’ trade deals with countries, including India, unclear.
India and the US rescheduled a three-day meeting that was to begin on February 23 between officials to finalise the legal text of the trade agreement.
On February 24, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the negotiations with the US will resume “as soon as there is more clarity” on the changes in tariffs announced by Washington.
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