India's 25 per cent oil penalty ended by executive order, but the 18 per cent rate has no legal text

One half of the tariff wall around Indian exports to the United States came down by binding instrument in February 2026. The other half did not, and the widely reported figure of 18 per cent exists so far only as a stated intention in a joint political statement.

The instrument that did the work is an executive order signed on 6 February 2026 and effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on 7 February 2026. It terminates headings 9903.01.84 through 9903.01.89 and subdivision (z) of U.S. Note 2, which is the machinery that carried the additional 25 per cent ad valorem duty on articles of India imposed by Executive Order 14329 of 6 August 2025 over India's purchases of Russian oil. The order records that the removal follows India's commitment to cease importing Russian Federation oil and to expand defence cooperation with the United States over the next decade.

What that order did not do is set out in the customs guidance. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued CSMS message 67702087 on 9 February 2026. It confirms the 25 per cent penalty headings are no longer in use as of the effective date, tells importers to correct entries filed against the discontinued codes, and sets out refund procedure by post summary correction or protest. It then states plainly that reciprocal tariffs imposed by Executive Order 14257 remain in effect for products of India that do not qualify for an exemption. The penalty layer is gone. The reciprocal layer is not.

The 18 per cent number comes from the United States and India joint statement of 6 February 2026. In it the United States says it will apply an 18 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods including textiles, leather, chemicals and machinery, and says that on conclusion of the agreement it will remove tariffs on pharmaceuticals, gems, diamonds and aircraft parts, including certain aircraft and aircraft parts previously tariffed on national security grounds. India, for its part, says it will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all United States industrial goods and on a range of food and agricultural products, with distillers dried grains, sorghum, tree nuts, fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits named.

The purchase figure that dominated coverage is also in that document, and its wording is narrower than the headlines. The joint statement says India intends to purchase 500 billion dollars of United States energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years. It is an intention, stated by the United States side in a joint text, over a five year horizon, across named categories.

That wording was tightened after publication. India Briefing, published by Dezan Shira and Associates on 7 February 2026 and updated on 11 February, reported that the White House factsheet was revised on 9 February in three ways: an initial reference to tariff reductions on certain pulses was removed, the procurement language was changed from committed to intends and a mention of agricultural goods deleted, and a statement about removing a digital services tax was reframed as negotiating over discriminatory practices. India Briefing also recorded zero duty access for gems, diamonds, pharmaceuticals, smartphones, tea, coffee and selected agricultural products, and set the sequence against Executive Order 14329 of 6 August 2025 and Executive Order 14346 of 5 September 2025.

The law firm Morgan Lewis, writing on 17 February 2026, described what exists as a framework agreement that lacks specifics and remains incomplete, and said expressly that it is not a formal free trade agreement, with details characterised as forthcoming from the White House. The joint statement supports that reading on its own face: it announces a framework for an Interim Agreement, and the parties commit to promptly implement this framework and work towards finalizing the Interim Agreement. A framework for an interim agreement is two steps short of a treaty text.

So the documented position on 17 August 2026 is this. The Russian oil penalty on Indian goods was removed by an executive order that is legally operative and has been implemented at the border. The reciprocal tariff regime that produced the other 25 percentage points remains in force according to the customs authority's own guidance. The 18 per cent rate, the zero duty lines and the 500 billion dollar figure rest on a joint statement and a factsheet that was edited three days after it appeared.

What is not known is when, or whether, the interim agreement will be signed, what the rules of origin will say, and by what instrument the 18 per cent will be given legal effect. Until that instrument is published, a reader who is told that India and the United States concluded a trade deal is being told something the documents do not yet support.