In its first response to the US Supreme Court’s verdict to strike down the reciprocal tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the Central government of India said it is studying all developments, from the court’s judgment to Trump’s following remarks, to analyse their implications.
“We have noted the US Supreme Court judgement on tariffs yesterday. President Trump has also addressed a press conference in that regard. Some steps have been announced by the US Administration. We are studying all these developments for their implications," the Ministry of Commerce wrote in an official statement.
This came after the US Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Trump administration by ruling that it did not have the legal authority to impose sweeping global tariffs under emergency powers. Earlier today, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi on Saturday said the Centre will examine the ruling and either the Commerce Ministry or the Ministry of External Affairs will officially react to it.
In a 6–3 decision, the court said the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not give a president the power to introduce broad, across-the-board tariffs on imports. The judgment could open the door to refund claims potentially worth tens of billions of dollars.
US-India Trade Deal
Within hours of the ruling, Trump appeared before reporters and announced a new round of tariffs, signalling that his trade agenda would move forward despite the setback. The president declared a fresh 10 per cent global tariff to be added on top of existing duties.
Trump also said the existing trade framework with India will continue unchanged. Responding to a question about whether the trade deal or framework with India would still stand, Trump said, “Nothing changes. They will be paying tariffs. And we will not be paying tariffs. This is a reversal for what it used to be."
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump said, “India, Prime Minister Modi is a great man, but he was much smarter than the people he was against in terms of the United States. He was ripping us off."
This came after an interim trade deal between India and the US was announced this month, which reduced US tariffs on Indian imports from 50% to 18% in exchange for Delhi’s promise to stop buying Russian oil.
However, after the Supreme Court verdict, a White House official said that Trump’s sweeping new 10% global tariff will reset rates for all major trading partners, including India. “This is, however, only temporary as the administration will be pursuing other legal authorities to implement more appropriate or pre-negotiated tariff rates," the official told AFP.
A three-day meeting between Indian and American officials to finalise the legal text for an interim trade agreement will begin in the US on February 23, an official told PTI. The Indian team will be headed by chief negotiator Darpan Jain, who is a joint secretary in the Commerce Ministry.
