- India-US meeting to finalise interim trade pact text has been rescheduled from Feb 23, 2026
- The delay follows the US Supreme Court ruling against Trump's sweeping import tariffs
- Trump raised tariffs to 15% from the earlier announced 10%, affecting India among others
India and the US have decided to reschedule the proposed meeting of their chief negotiators in Washington to finalise the text of the interim trade pact, sources told NDTV Profit on Sunday, Feb. 22. The Indian team was scheduled to start the three-day meeting on Feb. 23. Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, Darpan Jain, is the chief negotiator of India for this agreement.
"With regards to the visit of the Indian team of negotiators to the US for the India-US Trade Deal, the two sides are of the view that the proposed visit of the Indian Chief Negotiator and the team be scheduled after each side has had the time to evaluate the latest developments and their implications. The meeting will be rescheduled at a mutually convenient date," said sources.
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US Supreme Court rules out Trump tariffs
The development is important following the US Supreme Court's verdict against sweeping import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on trade partners. Trump on Friday imposed a 10% tariff on all countries, including India, from Feb. 24 for 150 days after the court verdict. On Saturday, Trump again announced raising tariffs on all countries to 15% from 10%.
In a major setback to Trump's pivotal economic agenda in his second term, the US Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs imposed by Trump on nations around the world were illegal and that the president had exceeded his authority when he imposed the sweeping levies by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.
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India-US Trade Deal: Timeline of tariff rates
The US had imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff on India in August 2025. Later, an additional 25% duty was imposed for buying Russian crude oil, taking the total tariffs on India to 50%. India and the US, earlier this month, agreed on a framework to finalise an interim trade deal, under which Washington will cut down the tariffs to 18%. So far, the punitive 25% has been removed. Following the SC ruling, Trump has again announced hiking these tariffs to 15%. This levy, if notified, will be over and above the existing import duties in the US.
For instance, if a product faces a 5% duty, an additional 15% will be imposed, taking the effective duty to 20%. Earlier, this was 5 plus 25%. There is, however, no clarity about what the US tariff will be on India after the 150-day period. To sign and implement the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, the framework has to be converted into a legal document.
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To finalise the legal text for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, the Indian team was scheduled to meet its counterparts in Washington from February 23-26, 2026. During 2021-25, the US was India's largest trading partner in goods. The US accounts for about 18% of India's total exports, 6.22% of its imports, and 10.73% of its bilateral trade. In 2024-25, bilateral trade totalled $186 billion ($86.5 billion in exports and $45.3 billion in imports).
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