Even as India is placed in the direct line of fire of US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, Nomura said that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations is an encouraging sign. India’s weighted average effective tariff rate on US imports is much higher than US tariffs on India, India has high non-tariff barriers and it imposes a goods and services tax, meeting many of the criteria on which the US is likely to determine the reciprocal tariff on each country. In an analysis report, Nomura said that India has adopted a conciliatory approach to Trump, with India and the US actively negotiating a BTA, the first tranche of which is likely to be finalised by the “fall of 2025”.