Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The White House has clarified that India will face a 10 per cent tariff temporarily following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new global tariff order, replacing the earlier International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)-based duties that were struck down by the Supreme Court. “The 10 per cent would replace the IEEPA tariffs (50 USC 1701 et seq.) that were just struck down,” a White House official said.
Early this month, Trump reduced the reciprocal tariff on India from 25 to 18 per cent after the two countries reached a framework for an interim agreement on reciprocal trade. Asked whether the new “global tariff” meant India’s tariff rate would now stand at 10 per cent instead of the existing 18 per cent, the White House official said: “Temporarily, yes. Until another tariff authority can be invoked to implement a more appropriate tariff rate.”
The White House official spoke on condition of anonymity. The clarification by the White House indicates that the newly announced 10 per cent global tariff under Section 122 is not in addition to previously imposed IEEPA tariffs on India, but replaces them for now.
Earlier President Trump had told reporters that “nothing changes” with respect to the India trade framework and that “they’ll be paying tariffs and we will not be paying tariffs”. He described the Us-India trade deal as “a fair deal now”, adding, “we did a little flip.”
