NEW DELHI: Prospects for an India-United States trade pact remain in doubt, a week after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global reciprocal tariffs.
Indian exporters are seeking clarity as Trump rolls out new duties on nearly all countries while urging partners to stick to existing trade agreements.
Businesses in India that export goods to the US now technically face a new 10 per cent additional tariff imposed by Trump. This levy is temporary and can only last 150 days before the US Congress has to step in.
The new rate is lower than the 18 per cent tariff under the framework for a trade deal that India and the US agreed upon earlier this month, but have not formally signed.
However, Trump has announced that he intends to raise the broad tariff rate to 15 per cent without formalising it with a new directive, creating more confusion for exporters.
“Business has come to sort of a standstill. We probably need a few days or weeks before we get clarity on how this is going to pan out,” said Bino Pathiparampil, head of research at investment management firm Elara Capital.
Roughly 55 per cent of India’s exports to the US now face the lower 10 per cent duties. In addition to leather goods, apparel and footwear, these include certain chemicals and machinery.
However, about 40 per cent of India’s export value to the US – including smartphones, petroleum products and many medicines – remains outside the scope of both the scrapped reciprocal tariffs and the new levies, as they were already subject to near-zero tariffs.
Some politically sensitive sectors remain heavily taxed.
Indian steel and aluminium exports continue to face duties of around 50 per cent, while certain auto parts are still subject to 25 per cent tariffs.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/india-usa-trade-deal-tariffs-trump-uncertainty-exporters-5958056
