Reciprocal tariffs are gone, but several other U.S. tariffs are still hitting Indian exporters

While the US Supreme Court struck down US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on various countries, including India, trade analysts and export data show that some other tariffs that have an impact on various sectors are still in effect.

On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on other countries exceeded his authority as President, so it reduced the tariffs.

Impact on trade agreements

Trade experts said this would lead countries that already have trade agreements with the US to re-examine them, and called for India to do the same with its Interim Agreement, which has not yet been signed.

“The decision invalidates country-specific “reciprocal tariffs” and fentanyl-related duties on imports from major trading partners,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative. “The decision effectively renders recent trade agreements that the United States has initiated or concluded with the United Kingdom, Japan, the EU, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India unilateral and useless. Partner countries may now find reasons to abandon these agreements.”

Hindu It has reached out to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for comment on whether India will re-examine the Agreement. This report will be updated when a response is received.

Other tariffs are active

Shortly after the Supreme Court decision, Mr. Trump said he would impose a base 10% tariff on imports from other countries under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. According to a fact sheet released by the White House, this section and the Act authorize the President to “resolve certain essential international payment problems through surcharges and other special import restrictions.”

Accordingly, the USA will impose a 10 percent value-based tax on imports to the USA for a period of 150 days, starting from February 24.

Steel and aluminum still effective

The United States also has other tariffs, such as those under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

“It remains to be seen how President Trump can use other laws like Section 232 to exclude/enhance tariffs on covered products from this decision,” said Krishan Arora, Partner and Indirect Tax and India Investment Roadmap Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat.

The US imposed a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 tariffs. These tariffs will remain, and data suggests they may continue to have an impact on India.

Taken together, aluminum and steel exports constitute India’s fourth largest group of exports to the United States. Additionally, aluminum and steel are the second largest export group to which tariffs apply, after precious and semi-precious stones, as electronics and pharmaceutical products are exempt from tariffs.

Exports of these products to the United States fell nearly 66% in December 2025, according to the latest trade data, in response to the tariffs.

De minimis tariffs are also still valid

In August 2025, the United States suspended its “de minimis” exemptions for imports of products worth less than $800 per person per day. This meant that imports of such products, ranging from textiles to toys, cosmetics to electronic accessories, would impose country-specific taxes based on their origin.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision on February 20, Mr. Trump issued an executive order stating that he had determined that “a suspension of duty-free de minimis treatment, including for shipments sent over the international postal network, is still necessary and appropriate.”

This has an impact on India as a number of smaller exporters and e-commerce players were using this de minimis route to ship duty-free products to customers in the US.