Tariff row: GTRI’s 3-step plan for India to protect its interests; key remarks on Russian oil

Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has proposed a three-step strategy to safeguard India’s trade interests as discussions with the United States have stepped into the “advanced stage.” The agency has suggested measures like scaling back Russian oil imports, seeking trade parity and resuming talks on fair terms.

Here’s what GTRI’s 3 step plan says:

According to the think tank, the first move should be to stop importing oil from Russian companies currently under US sanctions, specifically Rosneft and Lukoil, which together account for 57% of Russia’s crude output. GTRI said that continuing to source crude from these firms exposes India to potential secondary sanctions that could extend and affect critical infrastructure. The note cautioned that more secondary sanctions might be far more damaging than tariffs, as they could disrupt SWIFT access, dollar payments and essential digital systems, potentially paralysing operations across refineries, ports and banks.

Once such imports are halted, the advisory body recommends India to “press Washington to withdraw the punitive 25% “Russian oil” tariff.” Scrapping the tariff would cut India’s duty burden in the US by half, from 50% to 25%, and improve export competitiveness.These additional duties were introduced on July 31 which the US called a “Russian oil” tariff, accusing India of fueling Moscow’s war machine. Since then, India’s overall duty burden in the US market has climbed to 50%, coinciding with a noticeable drop in exports, down 37% between May and September.

Only after tariffs return to normal levels, GTRI suggested to “restart trade negotiations…only on fair, balanced terms.”The organisation said India should push for tariff parity with its other major trade partners by targeting average duties of roughly 15% and securing duty-free access for priority sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, and pharmaceuticals.Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has signalled progress on a bilateral trade agreement with the United States, saying that the negotiations have reached an “advanced stage”. The development aligns with US President Donald Trump’s recent hint that a deal with India may be imminent.According to a TOI report, the proposed trade agreement could bring down US tariffs on Indian exports from 50% to 15%. In return, India is expected to scale back purchases of Russian oil and increase energy imports from the United States, along with fulfilling other commitments.