Indian Farmers Protest Trade Deal with US Over Fears of Agricultural Harm

New Delhi. Indian farmers protested in major cities, including New Delhi, on Thursday against the trade agreement with Washington to reduce tariffs on American goods, warning that the deal would hurt Indian agriculture and endanger farmers' livelihoods.

Farmer organizations have called the agreement, announced last week, a 'complete surrender' to large American agricultural companies, despite assurances given by the Indian federal government to the farmers.

Farmers and trade union members waved flags and carried banners while rallying in major Indian cities, with reports of minor clashes with police in some locations.

Pictures shared by organizers showed thousands of people taking to the streets. Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition party, stated his support for the farmers' struggle.

He wrote on social media, "Farmers are concerned that the trade deal will affect their livelihoods." Under the terms of the trade agreement, India will "remove or reduce tariffs on all American industrial goods and other food and agricultural products."

The US will impose an 18 percent tariff on imports from India, including textiles and ready-made garments, leather footwear, leather goods, plastics, rubber, organic chemicals, and some machinery.

The Modi government has sought to alleviate farmers' concerns by stating that sensitive agricultural products, dairy, and poultry have been kept out of the scope of the agreement.

The agricultural sector supports more than 45 percent of the population in India, the world's most populous nation, making it an influential voting bloc with significant street power.

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

Thursday's protests brought back memories of the months-long demonstrations in 2020 and 2021, where farmers blocked highways leading to New Delhi and protested by parking tractors at the capital's historic Red Fort complex.

That wave of protests forced the government to repeal laws aimed at reforming the sector.