NEW DELHI, Feb 7: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday shared his preliminary assessment of the Joint Statement on tariffs issued by India and the United States.

Chidambaram said the Joint Statement makes it clear that no Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) has been reached between the two countries. He ngioted that it is not even an interim agreement, but merely a “framework for an interim agreement.”

Pointing to Paragraph 2 of the statement and its accompanying bullet points, he argued that the framework is so opaque that it is difficult to understand the exact nature of the commitments made by the United States without closely examining multiple U.S. orders dated April 2, 2025; September 5, 2025; August 3, 2018; July 30, 2025; and May 17, 2019.

According to Chidambaram, one aspect is evident: the framework is heavily tilted in favour of the United States, with a clear asymmetry in obligations. He said that while India has agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, the U.S. will continue to impose an 18 per cent tariff on goods originating from India.

These tariffs, he noted, would apply to sectors such as textiles, leather goods, and organic chemicals, and would be removed only after the “successful conclusion of the Interim Agreement.”

He further pointed out that U.S. tariffs on steel, copper, and aluminium are expected to continue, except for certain aircraft and aircraft parts. In addition, the ongoing U.S. investigation under Section 232 will remain in force, and the framework deal will be subject to the outcome of that probe.

“How is this ‘framework for an Interim Agreement’ a matter of celebration?” Chidambaram asked, questioning the government’s upbeat messang around the joint statement.

‘Total surrender, betrayal of India’s interests’: Pawan Khera

NEW DELHI, Feb 7: Congress leader Pawan Khera criticised the agreement and said, "This deal is a betrayal to all that India stands for and all that India stood for over the last 75 years. This is not a deal which is in our interest. This is a total surrender by none other than Narender."

"India has been made into a dumping ground by this deal. I do not want to call it a deal, as a deal is amongst equals and you sit across the table and negotiate. A deal cannot be with a gun held on your head.... It is blackmail, it is a surrender," he said.

‘Namaste Trump scored over Howdy Modi’, says Congress

NEW DELHI, Feb 7: The Congress on Saturday claimed that the India-U.S. joint statement on an interim trade agreement is "silent" on details and took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying "all the hugs and photo-ops have not amounted to much".

The Opposition party also took a jibe at the government with the iconic line from the Mukesh song "Dost dost na raha" from the 1964 film "Sangam".

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the U.S.-India joint statement just issued is silent on details.

"But from what has been revealed, it is clear that: India will no longer import oil from Russia. Separately, the U.S. has announced that a 25% penalty could be reimposed if India buys oil directly or indirectly from Russia," he said on X.

It has also been revealed that India will slash import duties to help American farmers at the cost of Indian farmers, Ramesh claimed.

"India's annual imports from the USA will triple, wiping out our longstanding goods trade surplus. There will continue to be great uncertainty on India's exports of IT and other services to the US. India's exports of goods to the U.S. will face higher duties than before," Ramesh said.

"All the hugs and photo-ops have not amounted to much. Namaste Trump has scored over Howdy Modi," the Congress leader said, adding, "Dost dost na raha".

Priyanka Chaturvedi says India-US interim trade framework not negotiated on equal terms

NEW DELHI, Feb 7: "India-US trade deal has not been done on equal terms. President Trump says he has been assured that India will not purchase Russian oil and that India will do a $500 billion trade with the US across many sectors. The joint statement highlights that framework. We are opening our agriculture market at nearly zero tariffs, but our goods being exported to the US will be levied with 18% tariffs," said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.