Tariff rollback signals deeper US-India alignment

The United States' decision to scrap the 25 percent Russia-linked tariff on Indian imports goes beyond a routine trade adjustment.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

US Trade Representative Ambassador Greer with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal

It reflects a formal strategic assessment that India has met a set of political, security, and economic conditions that Washington now treats as consequential.By eliminating the punitive duty imposed under Executive Order 14329, the US administration has recorded, in writing, that India has taken what it describes as "significant steps" toward alignment with the United States on national security, foreign policy, and economic matters. The executive order makes clear that this assessment is conditional rather than open-ended. Any resumption, whether direct or indirect, of Russian oil imports would trigger a review process that could lead to the reimposition of duties.

This framing places the decision squarely in the realm of strategic conditionality rather than conventional sanctions relief.

The tariff rollback coincides with the announcement of the Interim Trade Agreement framework, which, despite its commercial vocabulary, is structured around deeper strategic objectives.