Congress slams govt for agreeing to trade deal after US Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday hailed the US Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump's global tariffs and said India may not have found itself cornered into a "one-sided" trade deal had the government waited just 18 more days.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, "Hats off to the US Supreme Court for striking down President Trump's entire tariff strategy! Quite an amazing decision given its ideological composition.

"A 6-3 verdict is decisive. The American system of checks and balances still seems to be working," he said.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram demanded that the government must explain the impact of the judgment on the "deal" that was announced on February 6 between the US and India.

Chidambaram said he had stated that if the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's imposition of tariffs, the result would be that the US and India would revert to the status quo ante before April 2, 2025.

"Meanwhile, the U.S. has extracted several concessions from India without conceding any. What will happen to those concessions? The joint statement announced Zero tariff on many goods that the U.S. will export to India; that India intends to import USD 500 billion worth of goods from the U.S.; that India will not buy Russian oil; that India will address the non-tariff barriers to U.S. goods, and so on," the former finance minister said.

"What will happen to those promises? An Indian team is now in the U.S. to finalise the text of the Framework Agreement. What will the team do now?" Chidambaram said.

Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "'Haste is the work of devil.' The Supreme Court of the United States has struck down Donald Trump's so-called global tariffs. Had India waited just 18 more days, we may not have found ourselves cornered into what is a one-sided, anti-India trade deal."

Why did Modi make that late-night call to Washington on 2nd February, Khera asked.

"Why did India abandon the initial strategy of waiting it out until the U.S Supreme Court's judgment was delivered today? Is it the disclosure by General Manoj Mukund Naravane? Is it the shadow of the Jeffrey Epstein files? Is it the U.S. criminal case involving Gautam Adani? Or is it all of the above?" Khera said.

"Today, the Congress has been redeemed: Narendra Modi is compromised," Khera alleged.

The US Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump's far-reaching global tariffs, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.

The 6-3 decision centred on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping reciprocal tariffs Trump levied on nearly every other country.

The majority found that the Constitution very clearly gives the Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs.