Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. File | Photo credit: ANI
Counting Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement in Parliament that India’s “sensitive agriculture and dairy sectors have been excluded” from the India-US bilateral trade deal, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) here on Wednesday (Feb 4, 2026) said the government’s position contradicted US Agriculture Secretary Rollinsex’s claim on Brooke that the US Agriculture Secretary Rollinsex was a massive market, raising prices and pumping cash into the countryside. of America.”
An umbrella body of several farmers’ organizations asked the center to clarify Ms. Rollins’ claim that the deal would help reduce the $1.3 billion U.S. farm trade deficit with India. “The Commerce Minister has neither contested nor denied Ms. Rollins’ claim. Mr. Goyal’s statement is unscrupulous and aimed at misleading people, especially farmers, and therefore has no moral authority to continue the constitutional position,” SKM said in a statement.
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SKM has warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the country will witness a repeat of the 2020-21 farmers’ protest (against the three farm bills) if any agricultural product or dairy is included in the trade deal with the US. “The Prime Minister is silent on this most serious and sensitive issue affecting the livelihood of millions of working people across India,” SKM added.
The farmers’ body said Mr Goyal’s stand that Mr Modi had “always protected the agriculture and dairy sector and never compromised their interests” was factually incorrect and dishonest. Despite Mr. Modi’s promise to stand up for farmers, SKM said the Center has scrapped India’s 11% import duty on cotton. “The entire cotton region is the region of India with the highest rate of farmer suicide. The removal of the import duty on cotton further eliminated the livelihood security of thousands of cotton farming households. US cotton imports increased by 95.50% from $199.30 million in January to November 2024 to $377.90 million in the period from January 2 to November 25. during this period skyrocketed,” said SKM.
“The US trade agreement also focuses on government procurement and the minimum support price and subsidies. The agreement will help overcome the $40 billion trade deficit and resolve the surplus in the US crop market,” the organization added.
Citing Mr Goyal’s statement that the deal was not yet finalised, SKM asked why the Prime Minister was forced to announce the deal without finalizing the details of the deal, claiming it was under pressure from US President Donald Trump. SKM added that it exposed the sad state of governance under the Modi government, the absolute compromise in protecting India’s sovereignty and the ugly surrender to US imperialism.
Published – 04 Feb 2026 22:29 IST
