55% of Indian exports to the U.S. freed from 18% duty as US Supreme Court invalidates Trump Tariffs

The ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court that invalidates country-specific “reciprocal tariffs” imposed by US President Donald Trump will free about 55% of India’s exports to the U.S. from the 18% duty, leaving them subject only to standard most favoured nation (MFN) tariffs.

Section 232 tariffs to continue

However, 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium and 25% on certain auto components imposed under a separate section - Section 232 will continue, Delhi based trade think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has said.

Products accounting for roughly 40% of export value, including smartphones, petroleum products and medicines, will remain exempt from U.S. tariffs, GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said. “The ruling should prompt India to re-examine its trade deal with the United States”, he opined.

On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump exceeded his authority by imposing tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law intended for national emergencies. Chief Justice John Roberts held that IEEPA does not authorize unilateral tariff action and that the administration cited no statute permitting such use.

U.S. Supreme Court ruling renders FTAs useless: GTRI

“The decision effectively renders recent trade deals initiated or concluded by the United States with the UK, Japan, the EU, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India one-sided and useless. Partner countries may now find reasons to dump these deals”, Srivastava said.

In a quick analysis of the US Court ruling, Srivastava said that Trump could attempt to reimpose similar tariffs under Section 301 or Section 232, but those statutes require new investigations and public justification, delaying action and inviting further legal challenges. Also, such measures cannot serve as a universal enforcement tool. “This ruling against Trump would reassert Congress’s primacy in trade policy, sharply curbing presidential latitude to weaponize tariffs and reshaping how future administrations wield emergency economic powers”, he said.

The dispute traces back to April 2, 2025, when President Trump declared America’s chronic trade deficit a “national emergency” and imposed 10% tariffs on nearly all imports, later raised to as high as 50% on selected countries. The U.S. administration argued that decades of trade deficits had weakened the U.S. industrial base and posed an economic threat. Critics, however, called the justification unprecedented, noting that the U.S. has run trade deficits since 1975 without such action.

The IEEPA was originally crafted to let presidents restrict financial or property transactions with hostile foreign powers—not to impose general tariffs. Still, the administration relied on it to impose tariffs and collect an estimated $100 billion in new customs revenue.

Three lower Courts in the US had already ruled against Trump.