Latest news with #ICCFM
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Trade SOP in limbo, India takes novel approach in ‘dynamic' talks with US
As uncertainty over the India-US interim trade deal continues following the conclusion of an extended round of negotiations, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has adopted a fresh approach — operating outside the purview of the standard operating procedure (SOP) which has been under preparation since last year —to respond to challenging US demands, The Indian Express has learnt. The Ministry had begun preparations in May last year to compile a 60-page SOP to address the lack of consistent and streamlined procedures for negotiating future trade agreements. This was aimed at guiding the process of launching, conducting, and concluding trade negotiations, and addressed issues such as human resource mobilisation, negotiation team formation, and the composition and hierarchy of negotiating teams. 'The SOP for trade negotiations, which was supposed to be finalised by the top brass of the government, could not be completed due to internal disagreements. As far as the US deal is concerned, negotiations had to be conducted outside the scope of the SOP to tackle the dynamic nature of US trade negotiations,' a government official said on condition of anonymity. US President Donald Trump had initially set a July 9 deadline for countries to sign a trade deal and avoid steep reciprocal tariffs, later revising the deadline to August 1. Trump also announced fresh tariffs on dozens of countries, including Canada, the EU, Brazil, and several ASEAN nations. However, he stated that a deal with India is close. While extensive consultations with industry — ranging from textiles to automobiles — have been taking place, several farmer bodies and state ministers have begun raising concerns over the lack of consultation during the ongoing negotiations for the US deal, which could involve opening up India's agricultural market. Kerala's Minister for Agriculture, P Prasad, said earlier this month that the livelihoods of lakhs of Kerala's rubber, coconut, dairy, and poultry farmers could be at risk if the Centre fails to protect Indian farmers' interests in the negotiations. Prasad said that Kerala had not been consulted on the deal and added that the India-ASEAN trade agreement had previously had a negative impact on the state. The Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM), representing farmers from 11 states, said agriculture should be excluded from the trade deal. It highlighted that the US is one of the world's largest exporters of synthetic rubber. 'The US is one of the biggest exporters of synthetic rubber. Synthetic rubber imports have seriously impacted the farm-gate price of natural rubber in India. India imported Rs 1,556.54 crore worth of synthetic rubber and related products from the US in 2017–18, and Rs 71,490.73 crore in 2018–19. If India reduces import duties on synthetic rubber from the US, it will severely affect rubber farmers,' the ICCFM said. Farmers also warned that if India signs a trade deal with the US, the latter could import raw sugar from Brazil, process it in the US, and then export it to India—hurting the domestic sugar industry. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
India-US interim trade deal talks: Both sides wrap up extended round of trade negotiations
India and the US have concluded a week-long round of trade negotiations aimed at finalising an interim trade deal seen as crucial for India to avoid reciprocal tariffs and gain an edge over its Asian peers, The Indian Express has learned. This round of talks assumes significance as the US has set a fresh deadline of August 1 to implement reciprocal tariffs. While US President Donald Trump reiterated that a deal with India is close, India could face tariffs of up to 26 per cent if both countries fail to reach an agreement. Government officials have maintained that India is aiming to sign a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by the end of the year, which would provide market access in labour-intensive sectors and ensure a significant tariff differential compared to its Asian peers. Talks have encountered complications over agriculture, with the US seeking market access for genetically modified (GM) products such as soya and corn, along with broad-based access across sectors. However, the farmers' body Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM) has urged the government to exclude all aspects of agriculture from the US trade deal in order to protect the interests of Indian farmers. Government officials have said that, as of now, only US baseline tariffs of 10 per cent and sectoral tariffs on steel and aluminium — along with fentanyl-related tariffs on China — have come into effect. 'These have resulted in higher duty collections for the US, and their imports from China and specific sectors have gone down,' an official said. While sectoral tariffs — such as 50 per cent on steel, aluminium and copper — are already disrupting India's exports to the US, Trump has also threatened steep tariffs on BRICS countries over their challenge to the US dollar and has warned of duties on buyers of Russian oil. Notably, India is a top importer of Russian oil. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Farmers' body warns against US deal, says protests will 'intensify' if concerns ignored
The Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM), a network of farmers' organisations across 11 states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, has urged the government to exclude all aspects of agriculture from the US trade deal in order to protect the interests of Indian farmers. 'If the Indian government moves forward with trade deals that overlook critical issues affecting our farmers, movements like ours will be compelled to intensify our protests against such anti-farmer policies. However, we are hopeful that the same sentiment which led India to wisely withdraw from the RCEP trade negotiations will prevail in this case as well,' the farmers' body said in a statement to the government amid ongoing negotiations. In a letter to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, the ICCFM warned that granting duty-free access to US agricultural products under a trade agreement could have serious consequences. It noted that the US has been engaged in a trade war with China, Mexico, and Canada since 2018, which has severely affected its agricultural exports. 'The US trade deficit in agriculture has nearly doubled, indicating a significant surplus they may seek to offload onto markets like India. For example, soybean exports from the US dropped from $34.4 billion in 2022 to $24.5 billion in 2024, while corn exports fell from $18.6 billion to $13.9 billion during the same period,' the letter stated. The ICCFM further emphasised the risk to Indian farmers, stating that the US government is among the world's largest agricultural subsidisers. The 2024 Farm Bill has allocated a staggering $1.5 trillion towards farm subsidies. These substantial supports not only restrict agricultural imports into the US but also enable American products to enter export markets at artificially low prices. Allowing such heavily subsidised US imports into India, the ICCFM argued, would undermine India's longstanding position at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against these very subsidies. Notably, a recent report by the State Bank of India (SBI) cautioned that opening India's dairy sector to US imports could result in an annual loss of Rs 1.03 lakh crore to Indian dairy farmers. The report highlighted that milk prices in India could drop by at least 15 per cent if the sector is opened up, significantly affecting the livelihoods of small dairy farmers due to the heavily subsidised US dairy industry. The farmers' body also criticised the US for threatening Indian farmers' livelihoods at the WTO by challenging the modest support provided by the Indian government through public procurement schemes, citing alleged violations of WTO rules. 'This is despite the glaring lack of a level playing field. The US Farm Bill 2019 alone allocated $867 billion in subsidies for American farmers, whereas an OECD study indicates that the aggregate Producer Support Estimate for Indian farmers was a negative 14 per cent over 2000–2016,' the letter stated. On the issue of edible oil, the ICCFM pointed out that the US is the world's third-largest exporter of soybean oil. 'India, once self-sufficient in edible oil, now imports nearly 70 per cent of its requirements due to anti-farmer trade policies. On 31 May, India halved the import duty on crude palm oil, soybean oil, and sunflower oil—from 20 per cent to 10 per cent—citing inflation. This duty cut, ostensibly made in the name of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), primarily benefits large importers who dominate the import and processing of crude edible oil,' the letter stated. While former US President Donald Trump supported large American agribusinesses, India's leadership must protect its small-scale producers who feed the nation, the farmers said, adding that India has the capacity to produce more edible oil, and lowering import duties only undermines domestic cultivation—benefiting corporations at the expense of Indian farmers. Ravi Dutta Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, covering policy issues related to trade, commerce, and banking. He has over five years of experience and has previously worked with Mint, CNBC-TV18, and other news outlets. ... Read More
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Farm groups urge government to exclude all aspects of agriculture from the India-US trade deal
NEW DELHI: As India-US trade talks enter final stage, a network of farmer organisations has written to Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, urging him to exclude all aspects of agriculture from the trade deal with the US to protect the interests of Indian farmers, ensuring the country's food sovereignty and security, and safeguarding the vitality of India's rural economy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'Allowing heavily subsidized US imports into India would undermine our long-standing position at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against these very subsidies. More critically, it could flood our markets with cheap, subsidized products, destabilizing domestic prices and severely harming our farmers,' said the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM), including various factions of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) of different states, in its letter to Goyal on late Tuesday. The letter, signed by general secretary of the ICCFM and BKU Yudhvir Singh and national spokesperson of the BKU Rakesh Tikait, flagged how any deal granting duty-free or low tariff access to the US agricultural products will negatively impact India farmers who produce maize, soybean, pulses, cotton and fruits & nuts. Similarly, it also underlined the impact of such trade deals on the Indian dairy sector and cited a recent report by the SBI that cautioned that the opening of India's dairy sector to the US imports could result in an annual loss of more than Rs 1 lakh crore to dairy farmers. The farm network also flagged the threat of transgenic produce, pointing out that much of the American agricultural produces are transgenic and import of any such products into India - be it corn, soy, canola, cotton or apples - would be unacceptable due to biosafety concerns. 'If the Indian government moves forward with trade deals that overlook critical issues affecting our farmers, movements like ours will be compelled to intensify our protests against such anti-farmer policies,' said the farmer representatives.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Exclude agriculture from India-US trade deal: Farm bodies
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Farmers body Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (ICCFM) Tuesday urged the government not to include any aspects of agriculture including dairy in the proposed bilateral trade agreement between India and the US as it would have implications on these a communication to commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, it said the Indian government must stop any trade deal with the US that Is detrimental to farmers' interests.'We urgently request that you exclude all aspects of agriculture from this trade deal to protect the interests of Indian farmers, ensuring our food sovereignty and security, and safeguarding the vitality of our rural economy ,' it said as the potential consequences of a trade agreement that grants duty-free access to the US agricultural products are 'deeply alarming'.It said that in agriculture, the US has a 'significant surplus that they may seek to offload onto markets like India'.Noting that the US is world's largest agricultural subsidizers, with the 2024 Farm Bill allocating a staggering $1.5 trillion, it said: 'Allowing such heavily subsidized US imports into India would undermine our longstanding position at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against these very subsidies'Moreover, import of any such transgenic products into India, be it corn, soy, canola, cotton, or apples, are 'unacceptable to us due to concerns about biosafety, especially regarding herbicide-tolerant and glyphosate-tolerant crops'.'We urge you not to proceed with any trade deal with the USA that involves agriculture and threatens our farm livelihoods, specifically requesting that you refrain from signing any Free Trade Agreement in this sector,' it week, the Bhartiya Kisan Union said If Indian markets are opened for capitalism and big corporate based agriculture system like America, 'then the farmers of the country will be forced to kneel before big corporate companies, also this step is a direct attack on the objective of self-reliant India'.'Any international agreement without consulting Indian farmers and livestock farmers will be a double blow to the rural class which is already doing loss making farming, because America provides more subsidy to its farmers than India, which would be far-fetched to even imagine,' it said.'The farmer of India will be reduced to a laborer on his own land. To protect the farmers and livestock farmers of the country, the protectionist policy should be given priority by the government,' BKU had said.
