US President Donald Trump has asserted that "nothing changes" in the proposed trade deal with India, despite a US Supreme Court ruling that went against his sweeping tariff measures.
Speaking at a White House press conference after the court ruling, Trump announced an additional 10% levy on certain imports into the US.
He said the framework for an interim trade deal with India, expected to be signed soon, "remained intact" and further described his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "great."
"Nothing changes. They'll (India) 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," Trump said.
"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," he added.
"The India deal is on... all the deals are on, we're just going to do it" in a different way, Trump said.
The comments come as Washington and New Delhi are set to move ahead with an interim trade arrangement under which the US agreed to lower tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%, while India committed to zero tariffs on select American products.
In a major setback to Trump's pivotal economic agenda of his second term, the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 verdict, ruled that the tariffs imposed by Trump on nations around the world were illegal and that the President had exceeded his authority when he imposed the sweeping levies.
Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him, calling them "fools and lapdogs."
"The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing, and I'm ashamed of certain members of the Court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country," he said.
At the news conference, Trump repeated his claim that he had ended hostilities between India and Pakistan last summer using the threat of tariffs. He also said New Delhi had, at his request, "pulled way back" from purchasing Russian oil, and insisted the Supreme Court ruling “would have no effect on the trade deal” announced earlier this month.
Asked about his relationship with India, Trump said: "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."
During his remarks at the press conference, Trump again linked tariffs to his foreign policy record, while criticising the Supreme Court decision striking down his sweeping global tariff measures.
Trump said his relationship with PM Modi "is, I would say, great", before repeating his claim of stopping the May 2025 conflcit between India and Pakistan through tariffs.
"I also stopped the war between India and Pakistan. As you know, there were 10 planes were shot down. That war was going and probably going nuclear. And just yesterday, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said President Trump saved 35 million lives by getting them to stop," he said.
"And I did it largely with tariffs. I said, ‘Look, you’re 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.’ And they called up and they said, ‘we have made peace’," he added.
Notably, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the inaugural meeting of Trump’s 'Board of Peace' on Gaza on Thursday, where the US President again claimed he had threatened to impose 200% tariffs on both India and Pakistan unless the fighting stopped.
Earlier this month, as the United States and India announced they had reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, Trump issued an executive order removing the 25% punitive tariffs imposed on India over its purchases of Russian oil.
The US president cited a commitment by New Delhi to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and to increase purchases of American energy products.
Under the agreement, Washington would lower its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25% to 18%.
And within hours of the Supreme Court ruling, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 10% temporary import duty for 150 days, saying it would "rebalance" US trade relationships. The measure takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on February 24.