India-US trade pact signing awaits clarity on Washington’s new tariff framework

India and the United States will sign their proposed bilateral trade agreement only after Washington finalises a new global tariff framework, according to the government, indicating that uncertainty in US trade policy has delayed the formal conclusion of the pact.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said India and the US are still discussing the finer details of the agreement and that the deal will be signed once the new tariff architecture is in place. He emphasised that negotiations between the two sides are ongoing.

The interim trade pact was expected to be signed in March after both countries announced that they had finalised a framework for the first phase of the agreement last month. However, developments in the United States’ tariff policy have pushed back the timeline.

The delay comes after the US Supreme Court struck down the earlier tariff system introduced by the administration of President Donald Trump, which had imposed sweeping duties on several countries, including India. Following the ruling, the US introduced a temporary tariff of around 10 percent on imports from all countries for about five months under provisions related to balance-of-payments concerns.

Officials said that since the tariff regime in the US has changed, the legal text of the India-US trade agreement cannot be finalised until Washington establishes a new tariff structure. The meeting between chief negotiators from the two countries that was scheduled to finalise the legal details of the pact has therefore been postponed.

Despite the delay, officials stressed that the deal itself has not stalled and that both sides are using the additional time to address issues such as non-tariff barriers and other duties imposed under different US trade laws.

The agreement is expected to improve market access and strengthen economic ties between the two countries. Earlier discussions had indicated that US tariffs on Indian exports could be reduced to around 18 percent, improving India’s competitiveness against other exporting nations.

India and the United States have been negotiating the pact for months as part of broader efforts to deepen trade and strategic ties. Once the US finalises its tariff architecture, officials say the agreement could move quickly toward formal signing.