U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that there were no changes to the parameters of the U.S.-India trade deal announced on February 2, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday (February 20, 2026) that the President’ s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ were unlawful.
U.S. Supreme Court rejects Trump tariffs LIVE
At a press conference in which he railed against the Justices who ruled against the tariffs, Mr. Trump said that he would use alternatives to impose tariffs. The Court ruled he had exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the legal instrument that enabled his ‘reciprocal tariffs’ announced on April 2, 2025.
“Nothing changes. They’ll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs,” Mr. Trump said during a press conference shortly after the Court decision was out when asked about the status of the deal with India.
“This is a reversal for what it used to be, as you know,” he said, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a “great gentleman”, but added,
“He was ripping us off.”
“So we made a deal with India, and it’s a fair deal now, and we are not paying tariffs to them, and they are paying tariffs. We didn’t flip,” Mr. Trump said.
The agreed terms of the deal reduce the general tariff rate for Indian goods entering the U.S. from 50% (including a 25% ‘penalty’ rate for India’ s energy trade with Russia) to 18%.
During the press conference, Mr. Trump said that he would sign into law on Friday (February 20, 2026), a broad 10% “global tariff” across the board using Section 122 of the U.S.’s Trade Act (1974) which is expected to go into effect in three days.
These tariffs are valid for a maximum of 150 days. He also emphasised that Section 232 tariffs, which are imposed on national security grounds (for example, on steel and aluminium) and Section 301 tariffs (related to ‘unfair‘ trade practices) would remain in place. The President said he was initiating 301 probes. It is, however, as yet unclear what the legal basis would be for the entire 18% tariff rate on India.
Asked by a reporter to characterise his relationship with India, Mr. Trump said it was “fantastic” and that his relationship with Mr. Modi is “great”. He quickly moved on to claim that India had stopped buying Russian oil at the U.S.’s request. Mr. Trump claimed, as he has done before on multiple occasions, that he stopped the “war” (in May 2025) between India and Pakistan “largely” by threatening each country with 200% tariffs.
‘India pulled way back from Russia at my request’: Trump
Mr. Trump’s taking credit for the ceasefire and for India purchasing less Russian oil (and earlier claims that it was altogether stopping these purchases) have been politically sensitive in India. On Friday, Mr. Trump dwelt on each of these topics in quick succession.
“India pulled out of Russia. You know, India was getting its oil from Russia, right? And they pull way back at my request, because we want to settle that horrible war where 25,000 people are dying every month,” Mr. Trump said.
”I also stopped the war between India and Pakistan,” he added, claiming that 10 planes were shot down during the conflict. Mr. Trump also claimed that the conflict was possibly going to turn into a nuclear confrontation
“I said, look, you’re [ i.e., India and Pakistan] going to fight, that’s fine, but you’re not going to do business with the United States, and you’re going to pay a 200% tariff. Each country,” he said, adding this prompted the countries to declare that they wanted to make peace.
Mr. Trump did not answer a question on whether he had plans to travel to India for the Quad Summit this year. The Summit of the group of four countries (India, the U.S., Japan and Australia) was meant to take place last year but was put on hold.
During the press conference Mr. Trump railed against some of the Justices, using terms such as “fools”, “lapdogs”, ”unpatriotic” to describe them and saying they were “disloyal to the Constitution”. He praised the minority that dissented, for instance, calling Justice Brett Kavanaugh a “genius” and saying he was “so proud of him”.
Published – February 21, 2026 04:03 am IST
