India has reportedly rescheduled its trade negotiators’ visit to the United States this week due to uncertainty after U.S. tariff measures were struck down by the Supreme Court.
The delegation was aiming to finalise a trade agreement between the two countries after reaching an interim deal earlier this month. A new date for the negotiations has not yet been chosen, Reuters reported.
The U.S. government has said that the trade agreements signed while President Donald Trump’s tariff measures were in effect will stand despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The deals were not premised on whether or not the the emergency tariff litigation would rise or fall,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CBS News.
“We expect to stand by [the trade deals],” Greer said. “We expect our partners to stand by them. And I haven't heard anyone yet come to me and say, the deal's off.”
Under the U.S.-India interim agreement, India would end or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and many agricultural products, while the U.S. would lower tariffs on Indian imports from 50% to 18%.
India would also buy US$500 billion in U.S. goods over five years, including energy products, aircraft parts, and precious metals.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday (Saturday AEDT) that many of Trump’s unilaterally-imposed tariffs are unlawful, as the power to tax belongs solely to Congress. The decision covers all tariffs added under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Since the ruling, Trump has signed a new executive order to impose a 10% tariff on all countries under section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act, and later said he would raise this rate to 15%. This law specifies that these tariffs can only be in effect for 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them.
