Farmers’ fears: India-US trade pact raises questions
The Tribune Editorial: If the government believes that the India-US deal truly prioritises farmers’ interests, it should prove this through transparency, parliamentary debate and meaningful consultation.
THE outcry over the India-US interim trade agreement, whose framework was unveiled on Saturday, has laid bare a familiar fault line: who bears the cost of “free trade” and who reaps its rewards? As farmer organisations gear up for nationwide protests on February 12, their anger is not merely about import duty concessions on apples, soybean oil or dried distillers’ grains. It’s about trust, transparency and the future of Indian agriculture. The Union government insists that adequate safeguards are in place. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has assured farmers that minimum import prices, quota-based concessions and calibrated tariff cuts will protect domestic producers. On paper, these assurances sound comforting. In practice, however, farmers’ apprehensions are far from baseless. Past free trade agreements with New Zealand and the European Union did lead to a surge in cheaper imports, squeezing already vulnerable growers. For apple farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, the prospect of competing with heavily subsidised American and European agribusiness is daunting.
The Centre is claiming that agriculture and dairy sectors remain protected, even as the joint framework speaks of reducing tariffs and resolving non-tariff barriers on a range of agricultural and food products. Farmers grappling with low incomes, rising input costs and mounting debt need clarity on these pressing matters. Several farm unions, Opposition parties and some state governments have demanded that full details of the deal should be placed before Parliament. This demand is reasonable because trade pacts shape livelihoods as profoundly as domestic laws.
Without robust domestic support — fair prices, subsidies, infrastructure and risk protection — steps to open up markets can overwhelm small and marginal farmers. The upcoming “general strike” is thus a warning sign. If the government believes that the deal truly prioritises farmers’ interests, it should prove this through transparency, parliamentary debate and meaningful consultation. Otherwise, the narrative of reforms will again fail to address the anxieties of those who feed the country.
