In Trade Deal with US, India Needs to Secure Terms Harder to Reverse

Gist The India-US interim trade deal , in negotiation for over 20 months, remains stalled as shifting US domestic laws create severe unpredictability for Indian exporters. Following the US Supreme Court striking down emergency reciprocal tariffs, the US has repeatedly altered its tariff baseline, replacing it with rates linked to forced-labour compliance. For civil services aspirants, this highlights the structural asymmetry in bilateral trade negotiations: India is being asked to make permanent structural concessions in exchange for temporary administrative waivers that Washington can revoke unilaterally. Background India and the US have been negotiating an interim trade pact where India would reduce duties on American industrial goods and commit to purchases in exchange for lower US tariffs. In February , a joint framework proposed dropping US tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18% . However, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's reciprocal tariffs instituted in April 2025 under an emergency law , destroying the legal basis for the 18% rate. The US then pivoted to a temporary global tariff, and by July , instituted a new tariff regime based…