US may ease tariffs on India in next couple of months, CEA V. Anantha Nageswaran says

India’s Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran is confident that US tariffs on India will come down to 10-15%, which “we were earlier anticipating”.

India’s chief economic adviser is confident that the US will ease punitive tariffs on India in the next couple of months to levels which “we were earlier anticipating”.

India's Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran. (PTI)

“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%,” CEA V. Anantha Nageswaran said during an event organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata on Thursday. “It may also be the case that the reciprocal tariff of 25% may also come down to levels, which we were earlier anticipating, somewhere between 10% and 15%.”

On 27 August 2025, the United States imposed an additional 25% tariff on India, doubling the overall levy to 50%, due to Russian oil imports, which Washington says is fuelling Moscow’s war in Ukraine. That pushed India closer to US rivals China and Russia, as was visible during the SCO Summit late last month.

There have been some signs of thaw since then.

At least two teams of US officials are in India to hammer out an India-US trade deal, which was put on ice following US President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum. The discussions are “positive” and “forward-looking”, New Delhi said on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump and PM Modi spoke over the phone on the occasion of the Indian leader’s 75th birthday.

Indian stocks extended gains after Nageswaran's comments on easing trade tensions, with the benchmark Nifty 50 hitting one-week highs and notching its highest close since 9 July.