US President Donald Trump has warned that he may introduce new tariffs on agricultural imports, especially on rice imports from India and fertiliser from Canada, as trade talks with both countries continue without major progress.
Trump made the remarks during a meeting at the White House where he unveiled a multi-billion-dollar farm relief package for American farmers while sharpening his criticism of agricultural imports from India and other Asian suppliers.
The Republican leader claimed imports were challenging domestic producers and reiterated his intent to address the issue by using tariffs aggressively to protect American producers.
He said the administration would direct “$12 billion in economic assistance to American farmers”, funded by tariff revenues the US is collecting from trading partners.
“We’re really taking in trillions of dollars, if you think about it,” Trump said, adding that countries “took advantage of us like nobody’s ever seen.”
He framed the new assistance as essential to stabilising the farm economy after what he repeatedly called inherited inflation and depressed commodity prices. “Farmers are an indispensable national asset, part of the backbone of America,” he said, arguing that tariff leverage was central to his strategy for reviving US agriculture.
India surfaced prominently as an example during a lengthy discussion on rice imports, which one Louisiana producer described as devastating for southern growers.
When told that Indian firms owned “the two largest brands” in the US retail rice market, Trump said, “All right, and we’ll take care of it. That’s great. It’s so easy… Tariffs, again, solves the problem in two minutes.”
“They shouldn’t be dumping... I mean, I heard that, I heard that from others. You can’t do that,” he added.
He also suggested possible tariff measures on fertiliser coming from Canada to encourage local production. “A lot of it does come in from Canada, and so we’ll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to, because that’s the way you want to bolster here,” he said, adding, “And we can do it here. We can all do that here.”
India-US agricultural trade has expanded over the past decade, with India exporting basmati, other rice products, spices, and marine goods while importing US almonds, cotton, and pulses.
Disputes over subsidies, market access and World Trade Organization complaints—particularly involving rice and sugar—have periodically strained bilateral negotiations.
Source: NDTV
--Agencies
