A day after the United States Supreme Court struck down global tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been “compromised”. The remarks were an apparent reference to the interim trade agreement between New Delhi and Washington.

“[Modi’s] betrayal now stands exposed,” the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in a social media post. “He cannot renegotiate. He will surrender again.”

In April 2025, US President Donald Trump imposed “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries, including India, claiming that the countries imposed high tariffs on US goods. The levies were eventually reduced once bilateral trade deals were agreed upon, including in the case of India.

As per the framework for a deal with India that was agreed to on February 2, US tariffs on Indian goods would be reduced to 18% from a combined rate of 50%. The earlier rate of 50% had included a punitive levy of 25% imposed in August over India’s purchase of Russian oil.

At the time as well Gandhi had claimed that Modi had been “compromised”, alleging that the prime minister had “sold out” the “sweat and blood” of the country’s farmers by buckling under pressure from the US to finalise a trade deal.

On Friday, the US Supreme Court, in a 6:3 verdict, struck down the global tariffs imposed by Trump, ruling that he exceeded his authority in imposing the levies. The judges said that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump had invoked, “does not authorise the president to impose tariffs”.

On Saturday, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh told reporters that Trump had said the US Supreme Court’s judgement had no bearing on the deal between India and the US, and asked whether the Modi government agreed with the US president’s statements.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he also called upon the Union government to put the India-US trade deal on hold in view of the US top court’s decision.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that the Indian government also knew since December 2025 that the US Supreme Court “could have delivered its judgement any moment”.

He questioned the rush to come to an agreement, adding that India should have waited.

Hours after his tariffs were struck down on Friday, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a temporary 10% levy on articles imported into the US. The import duty will take effect on February 24 and remain in force for a maximum of 150 days unless the US Congress approves an extension.

This, however, leaves the status of recently signed trade deals with other countries unclear.

With respect to India, Trump said that “nothing changes” and that the levies on New Delhi will continue. “They’ll be paying tariffs and we will not be paying tariffs,” he told reporters at the White House.

On Saturday, the Congress leader claimed that there was a clause in the framework between the two countries stating that in the event of any changes to the agreed-upon tariffs, if one country changes the rate, the other country can change it as well.

He noted that Trump has now modified the tariffs to 10% from 18%, adding that India should also modify the trade deal to “protect our farmers”. We cannot have zero tariffs on agricultural imports, Ramesh said.

On social media, the Rajya Sabha MP added that if Modi had “not been so desperate to protect his fragile image and waited just 18 days more [after February 2], Indian farmers would have been saved their agony and distress and Indian sovereignty would have been protected”.