India shouldn’t be dumping rice into US market: Trump signals fresh tariffs

US President Donald Trump has said India should not be “dumping” rice into the United States market and he will “take care” of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the “problem” easily.

Trump held a roundtable in the White House on Monday with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector as well as key members of his cabinet, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. He announced $12 billion in federal aid for farmers.

Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family’s agribusiness Kennedy Rice Mill in Louisiana, told Trump that rice producers in the southern part of the country are “really struggling” and that other nations are “dumping” rice into the US.

When asked by Trump which countries are dumping rice into America, Kennedy, sitting next to the President, replied, “India and Thailand; even China into Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US rice. We haven’t shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years.”

Kennedy said this has been happening for years and did not start during the Trump administration. “But unfortunately, we’re seeing it in a much bigger way now,” she said. She said tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were working, “but we need to double down”, to which Trump said, “You want more, I understand.”

Trump then turned to Bessent and said, “India, tell me about India. Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice? No sir, we’re still working on their trade deal.”