The Indian government is in contact with the United States administration over the potential imposition of additional tariffs under Section 301.
“India remains engaged with the US on Section 301 proceedings. India is also parallelly engaged with the US for finalisation of a framework agreement as was announced on 2nd February 2026 and in accordance with the joint statement released on 7th February 2026,” the ministry of commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.
The US Trade Representative (USTR) has concluded a fresh Section 301 investigation covering 60 countries, including India.
It said that India has failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour.
“In sections III.A.7 and III.B.7, USTR found that India has failed to impose and effectively enforce a forced labor import prohibition,” it has said.
The USTR has proposed an additional duty of 12.5 percent on economies that have failed to prevent imports linked to forced labour.
“The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has concluded investigations against 60 economies, including India, regarding measures of these economies to prevent the import of goods. As a result, the USTR has proposed imposing additional tariffs on imports from the 60 economies under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974,” the commerce ministry said in the statement.
It said that products covered under section 232 tariffs and certain other products are excluded from these tariff proposals.
A special mechanism has also been proposed for textile and apparel products that could allow a certain volume of imports from selected economies to enter the US at lower tariff rates.
The ministry said that the proposed tariffs are not yet final and stakeholders can submit requests to participate in public hearings.
The statement has come as a US delegation is in India to finalise the trade deal.
According to some experts, the issue of additional tariffs may further delay the finalisation of the trade deal.
