On February 6, 2026, President Donald Trump issued both an Executive Order (“EO”) and a joint statement announcing a “framework for an Interim Agreement” with India that reduces U.S. tariffs on imports of Indian products, lowering the overall rate from 50% to 25% with a further reduction to 18% to be “promptly” implemented. Effective February 7, 2026, the first tranche of tariff relief stems from the EO signed by President Trump indefinitely suspending EO 14329, which imposed an additional 25% tariff on India beginning August 27, 2025 (see Update of August 7, 2025). President Trump issued EO 14329 in response to India’s direct or indirect importation of Russian oil, alleging the purchases improperly propped up Russia’s ongoing efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The second tranche of duty relief stems from the framework for an Interim Agreement with India, which will reduce the 25% IEEPA-based reciprocal tariff rate on imports from India to 18%. The joint statement, however, does not specify an effective date for this reduction. Since April 5, 2025, India has been subject to a 10% reciprocal “baseline” rate under EO 14257 (see Update of April 3, 2025), plus a 15% country-specific reciprocal rate under EO 14326 since August 7, 2025 (see Update of August 1, 2025).
Under the Interim Agreement framework, the United States has also agreed to remove tariffs imposed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion of 1962 on aluminum, steel, and copper, but only as applied to certain aircraft and aircraft parts from India (see Update of June 5, 2025 (aluminum and steel) and Update of July 30, 2025 (copper)).
India will also receive a preferential tariff rate quota for automotive parts otherwise subject to the 25% Section 232 tariff on automobiles and certain auto parts (see Update of March 27, 2025), and “negotiated outcomes” intended to mitigate the effects of a potential future Section 232 tariff on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients (see Update of April 15, 2025).
The joint statement highlights several other “key terms” of the Interim Agreement, including:
- a commitment by India to eliminate or reduce tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products;
- a commitment by India to purchase $500 billion in U.S. energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next 5 years;
- a commitment by both countries to address non-tariff barriers affecting bilateral trade; and
- a commitment by both countries to address barriers to digital trade.
Despite these commitments, the joint statement did not make the text of the full Interim Agreement public nor did it specify when the final text of the trade deal will be completed.