India farmers protest US trade deal

NEW DELHI – Farmers rallied across India on Feb 12 to oppose a trade deal with Washington that reduces tariffs on US goods, warning that it would hurt Indian agriculture and endanger livelihoods.

Farmer unions have called

the deal, announced last week

a “total surrender” to US agricultural giants, despite assurances from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Waving flags and carrying banners, farmers and trade union members rallied in several cities, where minor scuffles with police were reported in a few locations.

According to images shared by organisers, several thousand people took to the streets.

Main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he stood with the “farmers and with their struggle”.

“Farmers are apprehensive that trade agreements will strike a blow to their livelihood,” he said in a social media post.

Under the terms of the trade deal, India will “eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods” and other food and agricultural products.

The US will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of

18 per cent on goods from India

, including textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, and certain machinery.

Mr Modi’s government has sought to allay farmers’ concerns, insisting that sensitive agricultural products, dairy and poultry have been excluded from the scope of the deal.

The agricultural sector sustains more than 45 per cent of India’s population, making it an influential voting bloc with formidable street power.

However, individual farms are small and often unproductive, and successive Indian governments have historically intervened to protect them from foreign competition.

The protests on Feb 12 revived memories of months of demonstrations in 2020 and 2021, during which farmers blocked New Delhi highways and stormed the capital’s historic Red Fort complex using tractors.

That wave of protests forced the government to roll back laws aimed at reforming the agricultural sector. AFP