NEW DELHI: Farmers' organisations will hold nationwide protests against India's free trade agreement with the US.
Rakesh Tikait, national convener of Bhartiya Kisan Union, said that the protest will be in line with the 2020-2021 farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.
According to farmers' leaders, the trade deals will have far-reaching and adverse impacts on farmers.
Alongside opposition leaders and Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Singh (AAP) and Sudhakar Singh (RJD), as well as other farmer leaders, prominent BKU figure Rakesh Tikait declared that the FTAs with the US and the EU (a bloc of 27 countries) threaten to undermine India’s rural economy.
"We will organize a nationwide protest in line with the 2020-2021 farmers' protest against the previous laws, which the government ultimately withdrew," stated Tikait, who serves as the national spokesperson for BKU. According to farmers' leaders, these trade deals were made under pressure from the US government and will have disastrous impacts on the Indian farming community.
Leaders are puzzled by the trade deal, which allows the US to impose an 18% tariff on Indian products while India will reduce tariffs on US goods to 0%.
"It is a threat deal instead of a trade deal, compromising India’s sovereignty and threatening the livelihoods of over 100 million farm households," Tikait asserted.
On January 27, India finalized a FTA with the EU. Earlier, on February 2, US President Donald Trump announced an interim trade agreement with India, which was later confirmed by the India-US Joint Statement issued on February 7.
This trade deal is said to increase exports to India. Previously,
the tariff imposed by the US was 3.3%, which has now been raised to 18%, while India's tariff, which was previously 37%, has been reduced to 0%.
Statements issued by US officials, including USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and USTR Jamieson Greer, clearly indicate that the agreement will significantly benefit the US agricultural sector.
The agreement will increase US agricultural exports to India, ensure better prices for American farmers, and channel more capital into rural America.
India has opened its markets to US agricultural and food products, including Dried Distillers' Grains with Solubles (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine, and spirits.
The import of DDGs will severely depress domestic prices of crops used for animal feed and fodder in India, such as maize, sorghum, and soybean.
Imports of soybean oil from the US will have a devastating impact on farmgate prices of soybean, which are already significantly below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 5,328.
Soybean farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Rajasthan are already facing a severe price crisis, and this agreement will further worsen the situation.
The EU and the US provide massive subsidies to their farmers and possess huge agricultural surpluses, which they consistently attempt to dump in countries like India.
"It is extremely unfortunate that the Government of India has signed the agreement without any consultation with farmer organisations and without assessing their impact on agriculture and farmers’ livelihoods. The non-disclosure of negotiation-related documents indicates that the government wants to hide the details of this agreement," said Tikait.
National convener of the All India Kisan Sabha, Bijoo Krishnan, said their organisation will burn effigies of US President Donald Trump and Indian PM Narendra Modi in every village.
He cited an example of how the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement had devastated Kerala's spice and rubber economy.
"Similarly, these FTAs will destroy India's agricultural backbone," said Krishnan.
Farmers' organisations also expressed their dissent over the draft Seeds and Pesticide Bills.
