Several farmer organisations, including the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), its non-political breakaway faction and All India Kisan Sabha, Saturday announced nationwide protests against the India-US trade deal. The SKM also extended its support to the February 12 general strike.
In a statement, the SKM alleged that the proposed interim trade agreement framework between India and the United States amounted to a “total surrender” of Indian agriculture and farmers to American multinational corporations. It also demanded the immediate resignation of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, accusing him of misleading the country on the scope of trade negotiations.
“The framework is an abject rejection of the claim of the Commerce Minister that the agriculture and dairy sectors are out of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and the Government of India will not make any compromise on the interests of agriculture. The commerce minister is consciously propagating falsehood…SKM considers the role of the commerce minister as a traitor and demands his immediate resignation. The SKM also demands that the prime minister desist from signing the India-US FTA or face massive pan-India united mass struggles,” read the SKM statement.
The SKM (Non-Political) too said in a statement that it would soon hold a meeting and announce large-scale protests against the trade agreement. According to the statement, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said that while Goyal is tweeting that agriculture and the dairy sector will be protected, the India-US joint statement says that India has agreed to discuss and resolve non-tariff barriers imposed on US agricultural and food products.
Dallewal said these two positions are contradictory, and the joint statement makes it clear that under US pressure, the Indian government has agreed to open Indian markets to American agricultural products, which will cause severe losses to Indian farmers.
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader Krishna Prasad said the trade deal will have a deep impact on the agriculture sector by opening market for items like dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed and soybean oil, and also claimed it would impact the dairy sector. He said the deals with the US, as well as the European Union (EU), were being done to benefit their “stagnant” economies and are not beneficial for India.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said people in the villages are questioning how the deals will impact them. He called upon farmers to join the protest against the deals.
Krantikari Kisan Union (Punjab) leader Darshan Pal said members of the outfit would burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. He said the deal will further impact farmers who are already facing issues of low income and are unable to pay loans.
The SKM, meanwhile, alleged that dairy imports — already included in FTAs signed with the UK, New Zealand and the EU — would now be facilitated further by the reduction of non-tariff barriers, enabling the entry of US milk and dairy products.
SKM pointed out what it termed an “unequal trade structure,” stating that while US tariffs on Indian goods have risen to 18 per cent, India’s tariffs on US agricultural products — earlier ranging between 30 and 150 per cent — are proposed to be brought down to zero. Such a move, it warned, would expose Indian farmers to cheap imports of maize, wheat, soybean oil, ethanol, genetically modified foods and seeds, severely impacting domestic markets and farm incomes.
It also expressed concern over the potential impact on fruit growers in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states, citing possible imports of apples, pineapples, coconut and dry fruits. It warned that heavily subsidised US farm products could flood Indian markets at a time when domestic agriculture is already under stress due to rising input costs, falling market prices, declining growth and increasing farm debt.
Referring to the Union Budget presented on February 1, SKM said the government failed to address slowing agricultural growth and employment generation, while customs duty cuts would harm MSMEs and industry. It accused the government of prioritising corporate interests over farmers, labourers and rural workers.
SKM also criticised industry bodies that have welcomed the trade framework. It appealed to all the political parties, farmers and agricultural workers’ organisations, trade unions and all the mass and class organisations to join the protest demonstrations on the February 12 general strike.
The Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and sectoral federations and associations have announced a one-day general strike on February 12 against the imposition of the labour codes and the trade deals.
India and the US on Saturday announced that they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost the two-way trade. According to the deal, while Washington will reduce the tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the present 50 per cent, New Delhi will eliminate or cut down import duties on all US industrial goods and a wide range of American food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits.
According to a joint statement, India has expressed its intention to purchase US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal worth $500 billion over the next five years.
Farmer organizations, including Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) and All India Kisan Sabha, plan nationwide protests against the India-US trade deal. (File Photo) 
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