New Delhi [India], June 23 : Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday criticised the interim framework for the India-United States trade deal, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to sign an agreement against national interest.
In an X post, Jairam Ramesh claimed that Indian farmers will be adversely affected by the deal and warned that New Delhi may not receive a guarantee against unilaterally imposed tariffs on Indian goods.
Recalling the chronology of imposition of tariffs and India-US reaching an interim agreement, the Congress leader said, "The US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is in New Delhi today and tomorrow. On the request of PM Modi, while he was under pressure from @RahulGandhi's expose in Parliament of his cowardice in front of China, an India-US Joint statement on trade was issued on February 6, 2026. The US promised to reduce tariffs on Indian exports from 25 per cent to 18 per cent. India promised to eliminate its tariffs or reduce them deeply on US agricultural commodities and industrial products and purchase up to $500 billion from the US over five years."
"On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court of the US ruled that President Trump's reciprocal tariff strategy was illegal. The very tariff concession that the US had offered India in the February 6, 2026, joint statement effectively disappeared overnight. Within hours of the US Supreme Court ruling, the US imposed a temporary 10 per cent tariff on all its trading partners, including India. The legal basis for this expires on July 24, 2026. There is considerable uncertainty on what will happen thereafter," he added.
Ramesh criticised the interim deal as India agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and several US food and agricultural products.
Ramesh posted, "However, India, along with about 60 other countries, is under investigation by the US for unfair trade practices that supposedly violate US laws. Final outcomes from this investigation are expected in the coming weeks. The US is clearly using this investigation as a threat to get India to formally sign the agreement as announced on February 6, 2026. Such an agreement is not a deal but a steal by the US. Indian farmers in different states that include J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra will be very adversely impacted. The US makes very little firm commitments, whereas India commits to at least trebling its present levels of annual imports from the US."
The Congress MP urged PM Modi to "stop appeasing" US President Donald Trump.
He wrote, "Despite having trade agreements with Japan and the EU, the US has threatened increased tariffs on them. Even if a deal is signed, what and where is the guarantee that tariffs will not be unilaterally imposed or threatened to be imposed thereafter?"
"There is absolutely no need for India to be bamboozled into signing any trade agreement which, as it stands now, is heavily against India's interests. The Modi Government must seek inspiration from Malaysia, which has rebuffed its own trade deal with the US following the US Supreme Court's verdict. PM Modi must stop appeasing his good friend President Trump - who has claimed that he halted Operation Sindoor over a 100 times and is yet to be challenged by Mr Modi on that claim," the post read.
India and the US reached an Interim Agreement in February 2026, where Washington DC agreed to reduce the tariffs levied on Indian goods. However, opposition leaders had criticised it as India agreed to reduce tariffs on certain US agricultural goods.
Ramesh's remarks come as United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer has travelled to New Delhi to meet with Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, alongside other senior officials for a high-level discussion on the bilateral trade agreement.