Exporters relieved and confused after US court cuts Trump tariffs

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump holds a ‘Foreign Trade Barriers’ document as he delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 2, 2025. | Photo credit: Carlos Barria

Some trade experts say India had been too hasty in striking an interim trade deal with the US and had lost its negotiating power. But because the agreement has not yet been legally signed, some leverage can still be exerted to better protect the country’s sensitivities, they say.

“I think this will definitely have an impact on the BTA (bilateral trade agreement) between India and the US. We need to understand it more clearly as it is a developing story,” said Pankaj Chadha of EEPC.

Sanjay Jain, a textile exporter to the US, who has painstakingly charted the tariffs faced by rival countries vis-à-vis India, is overwhelmed by the development. “In short, this is chaos. Let’s see how it plays out,” Jain said.

“Important development”

Chennai-based leather products exporter Israr Ahmed noted that it was an “important development” and was optimistic.

The US SC decision effectively makes the recent trade deals initiated or concluded by the US with Britain, Japan, the EU, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India one-sided and useless, said Ajay Srivastava, founder of GTRI.

“Partner countries may now find reasons to dump these deals. Trump could try to reimpose similar tariffs under Section 301 or Section 232, but those statutes require new scrutiny and public justification, delaying action and inviting further legal challenges. Such measures also cannot serve as a universal enforcement tool,” Srivastava said.

However, it may be difficult for India to get out of the interim deal with the US, says Biswajit Dhar, independent trade expert.

“The whole thing has now been turned upside down. India should have waited and looked at its options.

We didn’t sign the deal. We can still go back. But we have entered into a political commitment, which both leaders endorse,” Dhar said.

India can still benefit from what happened if it wanted to, Dhar added. “We can certainly try to better protect our sensitivities, especially in agriculture,” he said.

Published on February 20, 2026