The meeting between India and the United States regarding the Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) has been postponed. News agency PTI reported this information, citing government sources. The meeting was scheduled to take place in Washington from February 23-26. The agreement originally required India to pay an 18% tariff, but on Friday, the US Supreme Court struck down all global tariffs. Following this, Trump first imposed a 10% tariff worldwide on Friday, then increased it to 15% within 24 hours. Trump’s 15% global tariff is now in effect, which is lower than the agreed-upon 18%. Consequently, both sides decided to review these changes and set a new meeting date. The postponement of the meeting could delay the trade deal. This trade deal reduced India’s tariffs. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced the trade deal with the United States at a press conference on February 7. He stated that Indian agricultural products would be exported to the United States at zero tariffs, while American agricultural products would not be granted any tariff exemptions in India. Additionally, India agreed to purchase products worth $50 billion (45 lakh 30 thousand crore rupees) from the US over the next five years. Following this, the framework for the Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) was released. Under this, US tariffs on Indian goods were reduced from 25% to 18%. Furthermore, the additional 25% tariff imposed on India for purchasing oil from Russia was also lifted. Trump’s tariff changes have raised questions about whether India will be subject to 18% or 15% tariffs. This is due to two reasons: If the BBC report is accurate, the total tariff on India will be reduced from 18% to 15%, while Trump’s statement suggests an 18% tariff. The tariff changes have led to an agreement between India and the US on a trade deal amid the India-US trade deal crisis, and a framework has been released. Both countries had stated that this framework would be implemented soon and negotiations would proceed towards a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement (BTA). According to the India-US joint statement, this framework will advance the India-US BTA negotiations that began on February 13, 2025. This agreement will include provisions for market access, strengthening supply chains, and reducing trade barriers. Piyush Goyal stated on February 20 that the agreement was to be finalized by the end of February. It was to be signed in March, and fully implemented in April. With this, India will have finalized trade agreements with major countries in the coming months. Benefits to India from this deal: India protected its agriculture and dairy sectors. The trade deal between India and the US was stalled due to the agriculture and dairy sectors. However, in the framework released in February, India fully protected its agriculture and dairy sectors. Piyush Goyal stated that India has fully protected agricultural and dairy products such as corn, wheat, rice, soy, poultry, milk, cheese, ethanol (fuel), tobacco, some vegetables, and meat. No tariff concessions have been granted to the US on these products. He said that this decision was taken keeping in mind the income of farmers, food security and the rural economy. However, according to the joint statement, India has agreed to eliminate or reduce import duties on some US agricultural and food products. These include dried distillers grains, red sorghum for animal feed, dried fruits, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits. ———————— Read this news also… What will be the impact of the cancellation of tariffs on India: Trump said – no change in the trade deal; US official said – only 10% tariff will be imposed. On Friday, the US Supreme Court cancelled the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on countries around the world. Just a few hours later, Trump again announced the imposition of 10% tariff. The next day, on Saturday, he announced an increase to 15%. Read the full news…
