The important meeting on the proposed interim trade agreement between India and America has been postponed for the time being. The Indian team of chief negotiators was scheduled to meet their American counterparts in Washington from February 23 to 26, where the legal draft of the agreement was to be finalized. However, both sides have decided to go ahead with the meeting to evaluate the recent developments and their impact. The new date will be decided by mutual consent.
Big legal setback in America regarding tariffs
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has announced to increase the tariff on all countries from 10% to 15%. But the US Supreme Court declared the sweeping global tariffs imposed by Trump under the IEEPA law illegal, saying that the President had overstepped his authority. This decision is being considered a big blow to Trump’s economic policy.
Up to 50% tariff has already been imposed on India
In August 2025, America had imposed 25% reciprocal tariff on India. Later, an additional duty of 25% was imposed on buying crude oil from Russia, taking the total tariff to 50%. However, under the recently finalized interim framework, the 25% penalty has been removed, while the remaining 25% is still applicable. If the new 15% tariff is implemented, it will be added on top of the existing import duty (MFN). That means if there is 5% duty on a product then the total effective tax will be 20%.
Signed in March, expected to be implemented from April
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said that the agreement could be signed in March and implemented from April. India-US bilateral trade will be $186 billion in 2024-25. In such a situation, this deal is considered very important for the trade relations of both the countries.