Nirmala Sitharaman to visit US in late April amid tariff chaos

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minster Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to visit the US amid the ongoing tariff-induced volatility in the global economy. Multiple media reports say that Sitharaman will be visiting the US between April 21 and April 26. While the official agenda for the finance minister’s US visit is around the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund, the focus will definitely remain on the bilateral trade agreement talks between New Delhi and Washington.

The development comes as both countries look to finalise the first tranche of the bilateral trade pact much before the Fall deadline. On April 15, Additional Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Rajesh Agarwal had said that the officials from both nations will commence the in-person talks sometime by the end of May.

The trade pact is part of Mission 500, which aims to double the bilateral trade between the two nations to $500 billion by 2030.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported that New Delhi is looking to close the first tranche of trade talks at the earliest. This is because of the 90-day pause announced by US President Donald Trump on reciprocal tariffs will end in July.

The US president had slapped a 26 percent reciprocal levy on India on April 2. Later, on April 9, he announced a 90-day pause on the steeper tariffs that excluded China.