Sergio Gor Arrives As India-US Ties Fray On Trump's Tariff War

US ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor arrived on Friday at a particularly difficult time in relations between the world’s most populous democracy and its oldest. A close confidant and part of President Donald Trump’s inner circle, Gor struck an upbeat note on landing, posting on X: “Great to be back in India! Incredible opportunities ahead for our two nations!” Yet it is widely acknowledged that he faces an exceptionally tough task in repairing a relationship that is now deeply strained.

Besides India, Gor has also served as special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs since August 2025, giving him responsibility for Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics. For now, however, his primary focus will be India—and the stalled India-US bilateral trade deal that Washington sees as key to putting ties back on track.

A partnership built painstakingly by successive governments on shared democratic values and converging strategic interests, particularly in containing China’s growing clout in Asia, has been badly hit by Trump’s tariff war. Despite talk of an India-US trade agreement since Trump’s first term, and hopes on both sides of finalising it by the autumn of last year, the deal remains unsigned and is unlikely to be concluded unless Washington retreats from what New Delhi sees as a maximalist position.

In the meantime, Trump has escalated pressure in his customary style, slapping a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods—higher than on any other country—and threatening an extraordinary 500 per cent tariff wall over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil. Such tactics, however, appear unlikely to work. India pushed back strongly against US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s claim that the deal was effectively done but derailed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to call Trump. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal pointed out that the two leaders had spoken eight times in 2025 and underlined that India remained committed to a “balanced trade deal”.

India is in no position to meet US negotiators’ demands for sweeping market access, particularly in agriculture and dairy. Washington wants India to allow large-scale imports of corn, wheat, soy and rice—an explosive political issue for any Indian government. Such imports would directly threaten the livelihoods of millions of small and medium farmers in a country where agriculture remains the backbone of the economy. Beyond livelihoods, officials argue, food security is also at stake: if wealthier farmers abandon agriculture due to depressed prices, India’s ability to feed itself could be compromised. The sector is of core national interest, and Modi has publicly pledged, including in his Independence Day address, never to compromise farmers’ interests. Dairy, another sector Washington is keen to access, is equally sensitive, supporting millions of households across rural India.

New Delhi has already accommodated Trump on several fronts by buying US shale oil, cutting back on Russian energy imports, and purchasing American defence equipment that is often significantly more expensive than alternatives. But Trump is not known for backing down, calculating that India’s dependence on US markets and technology outweighs America’s need for India. Gor, as ambassador-designate, will have to persuade New Delhi to compromise without triggering domestic political backlash, no easy task when Modi, like Trump, must protect a loyal political base.

“Sindoor has cost us a reasonably good trade deal,” says former ambassador K.P. Fabian. His view is that had Modi acknowledged Trump as the peacemaker who halted the India-Pakistan confrontation in May, US trade demands might have been softened. Trump, Fabian argues, was angered by Modi’s refusal to credit Washington’s role—unlike Pakistan’s political and military leadership, which openly praised Trump and even floated his name for a Nobel Peace Prize.

However, many analysts believe the relationship can be resurrected. "Notwithstanding the recent tensions in the US-India relations the structural convergence of interests remains an enduring one: constructing a stable balance of power system in Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” says C Raja Mohan, Distinguished Professor of American Studies at the Jindal Global University, Delhi.

“The challenge is to get the subjective elements in Washington and Delhi into a reasonable alignment” he says, adding †hat, “With the arrival of the new US ambassador in Delhi, the stage is set for a major effort to reboot trust between the two leaderships.”

As Gor arrived in New Delhi, attention was also focused on the US Supreme Court, which was expected on Friday to rule on the legality of Trump’s tariffs. The president invoked a 1977 law intended for national emergencies to justify the measures, even as lower courts questioned whether he had overstepped his authority. No ruling was announced. But even if the court eventually strikes down the tariffs, few expect the administration to abandon them easily. Trump has repeatedly defended the measures, imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, arguing that trade deficits threaten the US economy. In a January 2 social media post, he warned that an adverse Supreme Court ruling would be a “terrible blow” to the United States.

How Gor navigates the tightrope between US commercial demands and the strategic imperative of keeping India close may well determine the future trajectory of relations between the two countries.