Trump’s 15% global tariffs: India, US to reschedule key meet on interim trade deal

Novel DELHI: Bharat and the United States have rescheduled a key meeting between their chief trade negotiators that was expected to take place this week in Washington, authorities sources told The Times of The nation.

Both sides have now agreed to defer the visit and will decide on "mutually convenient dates" after "evaluating the latest developments."

The meeting was set to finalise the legal text of the proposed interim bilateral trade agreement.

The Indian delegation, led by chief negotiator Darpan Jain, was set to travel to the US capital for discussions with US trade representative Jamieson Greer.

The postponement comes even as US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the The country trade deal was “on track,” adding that India would continue to pay the 18% tariffs decided under the interim framework.

Under the proposed arrangement, Bharat has agreed to reduce tariffs on a majority of items in exchange for the US lowering its reciprocal tariffs to 18%. However, sector-specific tariffs of 50% on iron and steel, copper and aluminium, as well as automobiles and auto parts, are set to remain in place.

Indian authorities are closely monitoring the Trump administration’s response to a recent US Supreme Court decision on tariffs, with some officials indicating there may be room for manoeuvre since the interim trade agreement has not yet been signed.

“India has not signed the agreement yet, so there may be some scope for a dialogue. But we will wait and see how the US authorities responds to the ruling,” an official said, adding that it was too early to assess the full impact of the court’s decision.

On Saturday, President Trump increased the global tariff rate to 15%, up from the 10% he had previously set. The move comes after the US Supreme Court, in a 6–3 ruling, held that his global tariffs were illegal and that he lacked the authority to impose them.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Narendra modi declared that they had reached an agreement on a bilateral trade deal. Under the proposed framework, the United States will impose an 18% tariff on Indian exports to the US. Trump has also stated that tariffs on US exports to India will be reduced to zero.