<p>New Delhi: A joint platform of ten central trade unions (CTU) affiliated to Opposition parties and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for a nationwide protest on August 13 against the 25 per cent US tariff and unspecified penalty for buying military hardware and oil from Russia.</p><p>In a statement, the CTU-SKM called the US action a “blatant act of economic coercion” aimed at dictating India, including its trade relations with Russia, and these “aggressive measures” expose the “hypocrisy” of US trade policies, which demand open markets for American corporations while “weapon zing tariffs to bully sovereign nations”.</p>.US tariff, growth concerns may prompt RBI to cut rates again.<p>The Indian government’s “meek submission” to “these threats” are “equally alarming” and reflect its “growing subservience to western imperialist interests”, they said.<br></p><p>The CTU-SKM have demanded that India should reject Trump’s tariff threats and assert its sovereign right to trade with all nations, including Russia, review the India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) and halt India-US negotiations for a trade deal to prevent further corporate exploitation. </p><p>They also demanded that there should not be any secret trade agreements and all such future deals must undergo full Parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.</p>.US tariff: Why all is not unwell.<p>“The East India Company colonized India through trade—today, CETA and US trade deals are the new instruments of corporate imperialism. On August 13, farmers and workers will rise in defense of sovereignty and freedom, sending a clear message: ‘We will not let history repeat. Quit India, again’,” they said.</p><p>The CTU-SKM alleged that the union government has “responded with silence” to the US tariff announcement, “signaling its willingness to compromise India’s strategic autonomy” to the US. </p>.US tariff impact: Indian exporters may take a hit on margins.<p>“This capitulation paves the way for an even more exploitative India-US trade deal, which would grant American agri-business corporations like Cargill unrestricted access to India’s dairy sector, agriculture, resulting in collapsing prices and destroying the farming community along with endangering food security of the nation. It would also trigger deindustrialization in India and skyrocketing unemployment,” the statement said.</p><p>“The India-UK CETA, is also a direct attack on India’s food security, healthcare, and economic self-reliance. The agreement will allow British agri-businesses to flood Indian markets with cheap dairy, wheat, and meat—mirroring the devastation caused by the India-ASEAN FTA, which crashed rubber prices by 70% in Kerala,” they added.</p><p>It also warned that the India-UK deal also opens India’s healthcare sector to British corporate takeovers, accelerating the privatisation of hospitals and extending drug monopolies that will spike medicine. </p>
<p>New Delhi: A joint platform of ten central trade unions (CTU) affiliated to Opposition parties and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for a nationwide protest on August 13 against the 25 per cent US tariff and unspecified penalty for buying military hardware and oil from Russia.</p><p>In a statement, the CTU-SKM called the US action a “blatant act of economic coercion” aimed at dictating India, including its trade relations with Russia, and these “aggressive measures” expose the “hypocrisy” of US trade policies, which demand open markets for American corporations while “weapon zing tariffs to bully sovereign nations”.</p>.US tariff, growth concerns may prompt RBI to cut rates again.<p>The Indian government’s “meek submission” to “these threats” are “equally alarming” and reflect its “growing subservience to western imperialist interests”, they said.<br></p><p>The CTU-SKM have demanded that India should reject Trump’s tariff threats and assert its sovereign right to trade with all nations, including Russia, review the India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) and halt India-US negotiations for a trade deal to prevent further corporate exploitation. </p><p>They also demanded that there should not be any secret trade agreements and all such future deals must undergo full Parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.</p>.US tariff: Why all is not unwell.<p>“The East India Company colonized India through trade—today, CETA and US trade deals are the new instruments of corporate imperialism. On August 13, farmers and workers will rise in defense of sovereignty and freedom, sending a clear message: ‘We will not let history repeat. Quit India, again’,” they said.</p><p>The CTU-SKM alleged that the union government has “responded with silence” to the US tariff announcement, “signaling its willingness to compromise India’s strategic autonomy” to the US. </p>.US tariff impact: Indian exporters may take a hit on margins.<p>“This capitulation paves the way for an even more exploitative India-US trade deal, which would grant American agri-business corporations like Cargill unrestricted access to India’s dairy sector, agriculture, resulting in collapsing prices and destroying the farming community along with endangering food security of the nation. It would also trigger deindustrialization in India and skyrocketing unemployment,” the statement said.</p><p>“The India-UK CETA, is also a direct attack on India’s food security, healthcare, and economic self-reliance. The agreement will allow British agri-businesses to flood Indian markets with cheap dairy, wheat, and meat—mirroring the devastation caused by the India-ASEAN FTA, which crashed rubber prices by 70% in Kerala,” they added.</p><p>It also warned that the India-UK deal also opens India’s healthcare sector to British corporate takeovers, accelerating the privatisation of hospitals and extending drug monopolies that will spike medicine. </p>
