Interim trade deal with US total surrender by govt: Farm forums; demand resignation of Piyush Goyal

Bathinda: Anger is rising across the farming community over the framework for interim trade agreement between India and the United States, which outlines tariff reductions or complete tariff elimination on a wide range of US industrial, food and agricultural products. The list includes dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine, spirits and several other items — a move farmer unions say will expose Indian agriculture to aggressive foreign competition.Both Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and SKM (non-political) have sharply criticised the framework, calling it a "total surrender" to American agribusiness giants by the NDA government. While SKM views the deal as proof that the Centre has abandoned its commitment to protect farm livelihoods, SKM (NP) has termed it an even bigger blow than the now-repealed farm laws. The unions have demanded that the government release a white paper on the terms of the deal and emphasised the need for nationwide farmer unity to prepare for what they describe as a struggle larger than the farm law agitation.
The Framework, they argue, directly contradicts commerce minister Piyush Goyal's repeated assurances that agriculture and dairy sectors would remain outside the ambit of free trade agreements. They point out that dairy products have already found place in FTAs with the UK, New Zealand and the EU, and say the new revelations show the minister "consciously misled" farmers. The unions have demanded Goyal's resignation and warned the Prime Minister that signing the India–US agreement would trigger massive countrywide protests.Farm groups also highlight that the tariff structure is heavily skewed. While India's duties on several US agricultural products — earlier ranging between 30% and 150% — have been brought down to zero, US tariffs on Indian goods have reportedly increased from 0% to 3% and up to 18% in 2023–24. Such disparities, they warn, will tighten the grip of US multinationals on Indian agriculture. Reduction of non-tariff barriers, they add, could open the door for milk imports from the US, defeating earlier government claims that it would block milk sourced from animals fed on meat.The unions further fear that US companies will dominate India's animal feed market through imports of DDGs, sorghum and maize. They also warn that allowing GM foods, GM seeds, soybean oil, ethanol, fruits such as apples and pineapples and dry fruits like cashew could devastate growers in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir and erode the country's natural soil health.With agriculture growth already slowing, input costs rising and rural distress deepening, the unions argue that opening India's vast farm market — described by US officials as crucial for American rural incomes — will endanger 172 million rural households, especially small and marginal farmers.