US trade delegation led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch is in New Delhi this week for a four-day round of negotiations with Indian officials, as both sides seek to finalise an interim trade agreement between India and the United States. But the talks, which began on June 1 and are being led on the Indian side by Darpan Jain, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, now face a new pressure point on June 2, the USTR determined that India is among 60 economies that have failed to impose and effectively enforce a ban on imports of goods made with forced labour, and proposed additional duties of up to 12.5% under Section 301 of the Trade Act.
The visit is expected to focus on finalising the details of the interim trade pact whose framework was agreed upon in February 2026, while also advancing negotiations on the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) on areas such as market access, non-tariff measures, customs and trade facilitation, investment promotion, and economic security alignment.
The USTR’s forced labour finding adds a new dimension to these discussions, under the proposed tariff structure, economies that commit to imposing and enforcing a forced labour import ban through a trade agreement would face a lower duty of 10%, compared with 12.5% for those that do not, giving India an additional incentive to close the interim deal before the July 24 deadline.
At the heart of these negotiations is one provision of American trade law: Section 301 of the US Trade Act, 1974. Here is what it is, and why it matters.
