The India-US trade deal is really an ordeal: Congress slams PM Modi

The Congress on Saturday termed India's trade deal with the US as an "ordeal" after the US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

The Congress added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being subjected to "desperation and surrender".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that if Modi had waited for 18 more days and not been so "desperate" to protect his "fragile image", Indian farmers would have been saved from the agony and distress, and Indian sovereignty would have been protected.

"Yesterday after the US Supreme Court struck down his tariffs policy, President Trump declared that (i) Mr. Modi is his great friend; (ii) the India-US trade deal will continue as announced; (iii) he had personally halted Operation Sindoor on May 10 2025 by threatening to increase tariffs on Indian exports to the US if India did not halt Operation Sindoor," Ramesh said on X.

Trump was the first to announce that the India-US trade deal had been finalised on February 2. That post on social media read "out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a trade deal between the United States and India".

Ramesh added, "What forced Prime Minister Modi to ensure President Trump announced the India-US trade deal in the night of February 2...?"

"What had happened in the Lok Sabha that afternoon that had compelled Mr. Modi to get so desperate and reach out to his good friend in the White House to create a diversion?"

"The India-US trade deal is really an ordeal that India is being subjected to by the Prime Minister's desperation and surrender."

His remarks come after Trump said there is no change in the trade deal with India and emphasised that "the India deal is on".

"I think my relationship with India is fantastic and we're doing trade with India. India pulled out of Russia. India was getting its oil from Russia. And they pulled way back at my request, because we want to settle that horrible war where 25,000 people are dying every month," Trump said at a news conference Friday in the White House hours after the US Supreme Court struck down his sweeping tariffs.

India and US had announced that they reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on trade earlier this month.

Trump issued an Executive Order reducing reciprocal tariff from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. Further the additional punitive 25 per cent tariff was also abolished. This was for India's purchases of Russian oil.

When asked about the deal with India, Trump said, "Nothing changes. They'll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs. So deal with India is they pay tariffs. This is a reversal for what it used to be, as you know, India and I think Prime Minister Modi is a great gentleman, a great man, actually, but he was much smarter than the people that he was against in terms of the United States, he was ripping us off.

"So we made a deal with India. It's a fair deal now, and we are not paying tariffs to them, and they are paying tariffs. We did a little flip," Trump said.

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.

(With PTI inputs)