New Delhi: The India-US trade deal will only be signed after the Donald Trump administration finalises a new global tariff structure, senior government official was quoted by Moneycontrol as saying on Monday. Notably, the US Supreme Court in February cancelled President Trump’s executive powers to impose sweeping duties under the IEEPA or International Emergency Economic Powers Act and declared the tariffs imposed on other countries without congressional approval as unconstitutional and illegal.
The government official said work is underway in regards to the trade agreement, but any signing will happen only after their new tariff architecture is ready. The official spoke on the condition on anonymity.
The US-India trade agreement was expected to be signed in March, but the US court’s decision came as a huge set back for the Trump administration, which is now working on a new tariff framework for global trade.
As of now, the US has imposed temporary 10 percent tariffs, which will remain in place for up to five months.
The official said Indian officials are working on the agreements which would be against a ‘tariff structure or the comparative advantage that India gets in the US market’.
Trump’s ‘Another Form’ of Tariffs
Meanwhile, President Trump’s has reiterated that his administration would impose tariffs “in another form.”
“The decision that mattered most to me was TARIFFS! The Court knew where I stood, how badly I wanted this Victory for our Country, and instead decided to, potentially, give away Trillions of Dollars to Countries and Companies who have been taking advantage of the United States for decades. Our Supreme Court has made these Countries very happy but, as the Court pointed out, I have the absolute right to charge TARIFFS in another form, and have already started to do so,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
Notably, India and the United States released a joint statement in early February stating that both the countries have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement).