India has postponed the planned sending of a trade delegation to Washington next week due to uncertainty following the US Supreme Court ruling that rejected the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, a source in the Indian Commerce Ministry said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
This is one of the first concrete reactions of an Asian country after the court ruling. On Saturday, Trump announced the introduction of a temporary 15 percent tariff on imports into the US from all countries - the maximum rate allowed by the law in use.
“The decision to postpone the visit was taken after discussions between representatives of the two countries“, said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. “No new date has been set for the visit.“
He said the delay was mainly due to the uncertainty surrounding future U.S. customs policy following Friday's court ruling.
The Indian delegation was due to travel for talks to finalize an interim trade agreement. Under the agreed framework, Washington pledged to reduce punitive tariffs from 25 percent on some Indian exports related to purchases of Russian oil from New Delhi.
U.S. tariffs on Indian goods were to be reduced to 18 percent, and India agreed to buy $500 billion worth of American goods over five years – from energy resources to aircraft, parts, precious metals and technology products.
Indian officials said the visit would be rescheduled after both sides assess the developments and their implications.
Opposition parties in India have called for the interim agreement to be postponed and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to issue a joint statement ahead of the court's ruling.
On Saturday, India's commerce ministry said it was assessing the implications of the court ruling and subsequent statements from the US.
Last week, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the interim agreement could come into effect in April, once the remaining outstanding issues are clarified during a planned visit to Washington.