Washington trade meeting put off as US tariff policy enters legal flux
India and the US have decided to reschedule the proposed meeting of their chief negotiators, scheduled for Monday in Washington, to finalise the text for the interim trade pact, said Indian officials on Sunday. The Indian team was scheduled to start the three-day meeting in the US on February 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,” the Commerce Ministry officials said.
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 percent tariff on all countries, including India, from February 24 for 150 days after the court verdict. US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced raising tariffs on all countries to 15 percent from 10 percent, as announced a day earlier.
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.
The US had imposed a 25 percent reciprocal tariff on India in August 2025. Later, an additional 25 percent duty was imposed for buying Russian crude oil, taking the total tariffs on India to 50 percent. 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 percent. So far, the punitive 25 percent has been removed. The remaining 25 percent exists.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Trump has again announced hiking these tariffs to 15 percent. This levy, if notified, will be over and above the existing MFN or import duties in the US. For instance, if a product faces a 5 percent MFN duty, an additional 15 percent will be imposed, taking the effective duty to 20 percent. Earlier, this was 5 plus 25 percent. There is, however, no clarity about what the US tariff will be on countries such as 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.
To finalise the legal text for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, the Indian team is scheduled to meet its counterparts in Washington from February 23-26, 2026. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had said the deal may be signed in March and implemented in April. During 2021-25, the US was India’s largest trading partner in goods. The US accounts for about 18 percent of India’s total exports, 6.22 percent of its imports, and 10.73 percent of its bilateral trade. In 2024-25, bilateral trade totalled USD 186 billion (USD 86.5 billion in exports and USD 45.3 billion in imports).
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- India, US reschedule chief negotiators meeting on interim trade deal - February 22, 2026
- Court orders FIR against Swami Avimukteshwaranand under POCSO ACT - February 21, 2026
- US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, upending central plank of economic agenda - February 20, 2026
