Congress Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram on Saturday criticized Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters and economic analysts who had welcomed the 10 per cent tariff imposed by the US on Indian goods, and asked them to condemn Donald Trump’s “use of tariffs as a weapon”.
In a post, Chidambaram criticized US President Trump’s move to impose 10 percent tariff on countries following the US Supreme Court’s decision against trade policy. The Congress leader called it Trump’s ‘desperation’ to impose ‘anti-competitive’ tariffs.
Criticizing economic commentators, he accused them of “indirectly justifying” the US’s imposition of 10 percent tariffs, higher than the average of about three percent before Trump’s second term.
Chidambaram wrote on “It severely disrupted trade and was contrary to the rules-based trade system that all countries want. Do they realize that the tariffs hurt India’s exports? What President Trump is trying to do (under various other provisions of the law) is also an abuse of the tariffs,” he said.
In a separate post, the Congress MP cited Trump for criticizing the structure of the India-US trade agreement, in which the US President had said that Washington DC will not pay duty on goods exported to India, while New Delhi will have to pay duty.
He wrote, “Reacting to the US-India trade deal, US President Trump says, ‘Nothing will change. They will have to pay tariffs and we won’t have to.'”
“Is this the same reciprocity that was assured by India and the US at the time of the joint statement issued on February 2, 2026? Is this the same ‘achievement’ that the Indian government celebrated immediately after the joint statement?” he wrote in the ex-post.
The incident comes after the US Supreme Court on Friday ruled against most of Trump’s sweeping tariff measures. Trump later signed an order imposing global tariffs of 10 percent on all countries, effective “almost immediately.”
A White House official told ANI that India is expected to pay this tariff, and that the new tariffs will remain in place until another authorization is imposed, emphasizing the expectation that trading partners adhere to US trade agreements.
When asked by a White House official whether India would have to pay 10 per cent tariffs and whether these tariffs would replace the tariffs already imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he said, “Yes, 10 per cent will remain in place until another authorization is invoked.”
Meanwhile, the Center on Saturday said that it is studying the effects of the US Supreme Court’s decision and the steps announced by the President Trump administration. President Trump has also addressed a press conference in this regard. Some steps have been announced by the US administration. “We are studying the implications of all these developments,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a brief statement.
