Indian farmers protest new US trade deal, fearing tariff cuts on American goods will devastate local agriculture and livelihoods despite government assurances.

NEW DELHI: Farmers across India rallied on Thursday to protest a new trade deal with the United States.

They warned that reducing tariffs on US goods would devastate Indian agriculture and endanger millions of livelihoods.

Farmer unions have labelled the deal announced last week a “total surrender” to American agricultural giants.

This is despite repeated assurances from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Protesters waved flags and carried banners in several cities, with minor scuffles with police reported in a few locations.

Organisers’ images showed several thousand people taking to the streets.

Main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi declared his solidarity with the farmers and their struggle.

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

Under the deal’s terms, India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and other agricultural products.

The United States will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18% on goods from India, including textiles, leather, and machinery.

Modi’s government insists sensitive products like dairy and poultry have been kept out of the deal’s ambit.

The agricultural sector sustains over 45% of people in the world’s most populous nation, making it an influential voting bloc.

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

Thursday’s protests revived memories of massive farmer demonstrations in 2020 and 2021.

That earlier wave of protest saw farmers block New Delhi highways and storm the capital’s historic Red Fort.

It ultimately forced the government to roll back contentious agricultural reform laws.

 The Sun Malaysia