US President Donald Trump’s administration has told the Supreme Court that striking down tariffs on countries including India would expose the United States to trade retaliation and weaken its ability to secure peace abroad, reports India Today.
In an appeal to the court accessed by India Today, Solicitor General John Sauer urged the justices to preserve the duties that a lower court had found unlawful. “The stakes in this case could not be higher,” the filing said, calling tariffs “a crucial aspect of our push for peace” in Ukraine and a shield against economic catastrophe.
The administration wrote in the filing, “We recently authorised tariffs against India for purchasing Russian energy products to deal with a preexisting national emergency regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine,” adding that removing them “would thrust America to the brink of an economic catastrophe.”
As part of Trump’s wider actions against several countries, the United States has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India, citing the trade deficit, and an additional 25 per cent because of India’s refusal to comply with US pressure to end its oil trade with Russia. This has brought the total levy on Indian goods to 50 per cent.
Trump’s emergency appeal comes after a 7-4 decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled that the president exceeded his authority by using emergency economic powers to impose broad duties. The administration countered that the measures are promoting “peace and unprecedented economic prosperity” while driving countries into new trade frameworks with Washington.
“With tariffs, the United States is a rich nation; without tariffs, a poor nation,” the filing said. It also argued that rolling them back would weaken the country’s defense-industrial base, jeopardise USD 1.2 trillion in annual trade deficits, and cast “a pall of uncertainty upon ongoing foreign negotiations.”
According to the government, the duties have already led “six major trading partners and the 27-nation European Union” to enter into framework deals, which it says has strengthened America’s global position. “One year ago, the United States was a dead country, and now, because of the trillions of dollars being paid by countries that have so badly abused us, America is a strong, financially viable, and respected country again,” the filing said.
The Trump administration asked the justices to quickly rule that the president has the authority under federal law to impose broad import taxes, challenging the appeals court decision that deemed most of the tariffs an unlawful use of emergency powers.
A majority of the appeals court judges held that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not permit the president to override Congress’s authority to set tariffs. Dissenting judges argued that the law does allow the president to regulate imports during emergencies without explicit restriction.
India has maintained that trade negotiations are ongoing. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal recently noted that discussions with Washington were continuing to address differences and expressed hope that a bilateral trade agreement between the two nations would be concluded by November. Goyal said that “a little bit” of geopolitical issues overtook the trade matters in the negotiations for the pact between the two countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed that India will not compromise on domestic priorities. “For us, the interest of our farmers is our top priority. India will never compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers,” PM Modi said. He also asserted that “pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it.”
Officials in New Delhi have pushed back against Trump’s repeated criticism of India’s oil imports from Russia, arguing that purchases are based on market considerations and aimed at securing affordable energy for its people.
India has called the tariffs imposed by the United States “unjustified and unreasonable” and said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.
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