(MENAFN) India and Brazil held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday to explore ways to enhance economic cooperation and bilateral investment, amid punitive US tariffs on both countries. The seventh meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism (TMM) brought together Indian Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal and Brazilian Secretary of Foreign Trade Tatiana Lacerda Prazeres to discuss trade issues, cooperation opportunities, and dispute resolution.

Officials said the discussions focused on expanding the preferential trade agreement with MERCOSUR and strengthening collaboration in key sectors including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, MSMEs, and finance. In July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set a target of raising bilateral trade to $20 billion over five years and emphasized defending multilateralism amid global economic pressures.

Both nations have been hit with 50% tariffs from the United States. Brazil’s tariffs followed Washington’s criticism of the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, while India’s tariffs partly target its continued purchases of Russian crude, which New Delhi has called “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently stated that Washington aims to pressure countries like India and Brazil to open their markets and align with American interests.

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