India, US press pause on trade talks amid Supreme Court action on Trump's tariffs

New Delhi: India and the US have decided to defer the proposed three-day meeting of their trade negotiators to finalise the text of the interim trade pact as Washington resets global tariffs after the country's Supreme Court struck down the Donald Trump administration's sweeping reciprocal duty regime. The meeting had been scheduled to start Monday in Washington.

New Delhi is also likely to seek legal opinion on the implications of the judgement, a senior government official told ET. "The meeting will be rescheduled at a mutually convenient date," another official said, adding that both sides are of the view that the talks be scheduled after they evaluate the latest developments and their implications.

The meeting was supposed to be held in Washington from Monday, with the Indian team being led by chief negotiator Darpan Jain.

US President Donald Trump on Friday imposed a 10% tariff on all countries, including India, after the country's Supreme Court struck down higher reciprocal tariffs. Trump raised the tariff to 15% on Saturday.

On April 2, 2025, the US announced a 26% reciprocal tariff on India, lowered to 25% in July. In August, an additional 25% tariff was levied as a penalty for India's continued purchases of Russian oil, taking the total tariff incidence to 50%. Following an agreement on a framework for an interim trade deal earlier this month, the US announced it will cut the reciprocal tariff on India to 18% and remove the additional 25% punitive levy.

Currently, India's goods exports to the US are subject to the 25% reciprocal tariff. The February 6 joint statement on the framework for an interim deal proposed lowering this rate to 18%.