'Highlighting 18% tariff as achievement is misleading': Farmers' forum questions govt stance on India-US trade deal

New Delhi: A prominent farmers' organisation Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM) has questioned the government's narrative on India-US trade deal over allowing import farm products and claims about the country having an advantage over neighbours like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

It cited US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins' statements praising US President Donald Trump for supporting American farmers to claim that India has agreed to import agricultural commodities while alleging that it showed contradiction in Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's remarks.

RKM National Coordinator KV Biju described Goyal's remarks defending the deal as one beneficial for the country, especially farmers, compared to neighbours as "deceptive" and that it raises questions about the government's accountability.

He claimed that Indian negotiators did not fully disclose the details as they knew a full disclosure could be "politically and economically damaging" and this was "troubling". The deal was "negotiated in secrecy", he alleged.

On suggestions that India stands to benefit from the deal as the tariffs for Pakistan and Bangladesh are pegged at 19 per cent, he said the US has already reached agreements with Bangladesh to provide zero import duty on several products, including textiles.

"In that context, merely highlighting an 18 per cent tariff as an achievement is misleading. The Commerce Minister should have explained how Indian producers are expected to compete with countries whose production costs are around 30% lower and whose exports to the US enjoy zero tariffs," he said.

"The Most Favoured Nation status was not granted for India, nor were import duties reduced to 10 per cent...Moreover, the pre–trade war tariff rates of 5–15 per cent were not restored either. Without addressing this fundamental disadvantage, claims of gaining a competitive edge ring hollow," he said.

An RKM statement said organisations Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had opposed free trade agreements and GM products but their present attempt to justify the trade deal must be seen as "yet another anti-national stance, driven by power-centric political interests rather than concern for farmers or national sovereignty".

It said India has long opposed US agricultural subsidies at the WTO and now allowing the import of subsidised agricultural products from the US amounts to a "betrayal" of the other countries that stood with India in opposing these subsidies.

It also questioned Goyal’s statement that “when a processed item is imported, the GM effects are no longer there” appears to be an attempt to legitimise the import of GM-linked products through "technical wordplay".

"This argument is misleading and scientifically questionable. Soybean oil and dried distillers’ grains (DDGs) are largely derived from GM crops, and permitting their import effectively opens the back door to GM agriculture without transparent public debate or regulatory accountability," it said.