Home / Economy / News / India to sign US trade deal after Washington tariff reset: Commerce Secy

India to sign US trade deal after Washington tariff reset: Commerce Secy

India will sign the trade pact with the US after Washington completes work on a new tariff architecture, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said, adding there is no stand-off in the ongoing talks

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said India is India is examining legal implications of the probe initiated by the US. (Photo:PTI)

Rahul Goreja New Delhi

2 min read Last Updated : Mar 16 2026 | 4:43 PM IST

Listen to This Article

Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Monday said that India will sign the trade deal with the United States (US) after Washington restore global tariffic structure.

"US deal was to be signed in March. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs don't exist per se due to US Supreme Court rulings now. Under Article 122, tariffs of 10 per cent exist globally now. Any deal that India signs will be signed against a tariff structure. US is trying to recreate a tariff architecture globally. Once US creates that, it will be better to sign then. Actual signing will be done when new architecture of tariffs globally is done by US," Agrawal said, as quoted by ANI.

He added that New Delhi is still working on the final details of the deal and that there is “no stand-off” in the talks with Washington, reiterating that the agreement would be signed once the US finalises its new tariff structure.

Agrawal's remark comes after the US Supreme Court, last month, struck down the legal basis for the country-specific "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by President Donald Trump's administration. Soon after the ruling, Trump announced a blanket 10 per cent tariff on all countries for 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act.

Since then, Washington is also trying to increase tariff pressure on its trading partners through investigations into alleged “unfair trade” practices. These include probes by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) against 16 nations over “structural excess capacity”, and another investigation involving 60 countries for the alleged failure to ban imports of goods produced using forced labour. India is among the countries under scrutiny in both cases.

On the probe, Agrawal said that India is examining its legal implications, reported Reuters.