NEW DELHI ,21 Feb 2026 : India now faces a reduced tariff rate of 10 per cent, down from 18 per cent, after US President Donald Trump imposed a new global levy on items imported into America following a Supreme Court verdict against his sweeping tariffs, delivering a stinging rebuke of his signature economic policy. After signing the new tariff order, Trump said on social media that it was “effective almost immediately.”
The new duty is slated to take effect on February 24 for 150 days, with exemptions remaining for sectors under separate probes, including pharma, and for goods entering the US under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, according to a White House factsheet.
Trump imposed new tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which empowers the President to address certain fundamental international payment problems through surcharges and other special import restrictions.
Section 122 authorises the US president to impose temporary tariffs of up to 15 per cent for a maximum of 150 days to address what the law describes as “large and serious” US balance-of-payments deficits—situations where imports significantly exceed exports.
The White House said that US trading partners, like India, that reached tariff deals with the United States after Trump’s tariff diktat will now also face a 10 per cent duty, despite the higher levels they may have agreed on previously.
But a White House official told news agency AFP that the Trump administration would seek ways to “implement more appropriate or pre-negotiated tariff rates” down the line.
The United States and India earlier this month announced they reached a framework for an interim agreement on trade after Trump issued an executive order removing the 25 per cent punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil and reduced the reciprocal duties on New Delhi from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
Given this new tariff rate of 10 per cent, which will be applicable to countries around the world, Indian goods being imported into the US would no longer be subject to the 18 per cent tariff rate that had been decided on following the announcement of a framework for an interim agreement on trade between India and the US.
But the tariffs imposed under Section 122 will automatically expire after 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them. While the time limit is explicit, trade experts noted that a president could allow the measures to lapse and potentially reintroduce them by declaring a fresh balance-of-payments emergency.
The Trump Administration said it is committed to continuing implementing the President’s trade policy, which was at the core of his campaign and agenda.
Pictures credit social media
