Wednesday, February 19, 2026 from CTDA

PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: ATTORNEY-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS: CTDA MEMBER UPDATE ON TRADE ISSUES RELEVANT TO THE CERAMIC TILE INDUSTRY

Trump Administration delays implementation of 7 percent reduction in “reciprocal” US tariff on products imported from India.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced the elimination of the punitive US tariffs on imported products from India that were equal to 25 percent of their value. This tariff removal went into effect for Indian products for imports of such goods that were entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after 12:01 am, February 7th. See Cargo Systems Messaging Service (“CSMS”) # 67702087 – UPDATED GUIDANCE – Modifying Additional Duties on Imports from India (February 9, 2025).

At that time, the Administration had also announced that the additional US reciprocal tariff of 25 percent on imported products from India is being reduced to 18 percent.

US Customs & Border Protection has yet to implement the reduction in the reciprocal tariff from 25 to 18 percent and even though announced as policy, it will have to be formalized in a bilateral trade and tariff agreement between the US and India, expected to be issued in mid-March. There is also now some public discussion that the reduction from 25 to 18 percent will cover just certain classes of Indian origin products, including “home décor”. This may be due to the Trump Administration backing off on demands for duty-free status in India for imports of certain US agricultural items which are in competition with those of Indian farmers.

Any US importer of ceramic tile from India should keep good records, particularly for those shipments entered with CBP on or after February 7th. While the 25 percent “reciprocal” tariff remains in effect until a US/India agreement is finalized, there is a reasonable possibility that a reduction from 25 to 18 percent will be made retroactive, enabling refunds of the 7 percent tariff differential.

In addition, as of this time, importers must, in addition, still pay the Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) tariff ordinarily applying to Indian ceramic tile, which ranges from 8.5 to 10 percent, depending on the USHTS tariff classification. Also, any action taken to reduce the 25 percent reciprocal tariff will not impact US countervailing duties on Indian ceramic tile, which are in the 3.06 to 3.45 percent range, depending on the tile’s individual producer and/or exporter in India.

We will provide you with an update once the US-India trade and tariff agreement is reached and publicized.

Should you have any questions regarding this member alert, please contact CTDA Legal Counsel at the following telephone number and email address:

Robin Grover
Law Office of Robin W. Grover
Washington, D.C.
Tel. No.: 202-302-1653
[email protected]
www.GroTradelaw.com