US President Donald Trump has said that India should not “dump” (sell at cheap prices) rice in the US market and he will “deal with” the issue. Trump warned that this ‘problem’ would be easily solved by imposing tariffs. On Monday (December 8, 2025), Trump held a roundtable meeting with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector and key members of his cabinet, especially Finance Minister Scott Besant and Agriculture Minister Brook Rollins, at the ‘White House’, the official residence and office of the US President. He announced $12 billion in federal aid for farmers.

Merrill Kennedy, who runs her family’s agricultural business ‘Kennedy Rice Mill’ in Louisiana, told Trump that rice producers in the southern part of the country are ‘really struggling’ and that other countries are ‘dumping’ rice into the US market, that is, selling rice at very cheap prices.

When Trump asked which countries were selling rice to America at cheaper prices, Kennedy, sitting next to the President, replied, ‘India and Thailand; Even China is selling rice to Puerto Rico at cheap prices. Puerto Rico was once the largest market for American rice. We have not sent rice to Puerto Rico for many years. Kennedy said the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are working, “but we need to increase them further.”

Why is India allowed to do this? Why did Trump ask this?

Trump then looked at Besant and said, ‘India, tell me about India. Why is India allowed to do this? They will have to pay fees. Do they have discount on rice? To this Besant said, ‘No sir, we are currently negotiating a trade deal with them.’ Kennedy also told Trump that a case was going on against India in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trump said it could be ‘dealt with very easily.’ He said, ‘This will be solved very quickly by imposing tariffs on those countries which are sending goods illegally. Your problem will be solved in a day, so we have to win the case in the Supreme Court.

India is the world’s largest rice producing country

According to data from the ‘Indian Rice Exports Federation’, India is the world’s largest rice producing country and holds 28 percent share in the global market. It is also the top exporter, with a share of 30.3 percent in global exports in 2024-25. Among the rice varieties that India exports globally, ‘Sona Masoori’ is liked in markets like America and Australia. Trump has imposed 50 percent duty on India, which is the highest in the world. This also includes 25 percent duty on oil purchases from Russia.

In America, President Donald Trump has indicated that he is considering imposing new tariffs on many agricultural products including rice coming from India. This statement has come at a time when efforts are being made to take the trade agreement between India and America forward again. The Trump administration believes that India and some other countries are ‘dumping cheap agricultural goods’ into the US market, causing losses to local farmers. This news can be a shock for those Indian farmers and exporters, for whom the US market has been the largest global buyer.

A major reason for stalling of trade deals is the dispute over agricultural imports.
The ongoing trade talks between India and America have been stuck for months and the main reason for this is the dispute over agricultural products. According to the Economic Times report, America wants India to give more space to dairy, meat, soya and agricultural products in its market, while India argues that this will have a deep impact on its small farmers. Due to this, the Trump government has already increased tariffs on many Indian products. Despite several rounds of talks between India and America, the trade agreement has not progressed. The biggest reason for this is disputes related to agriculture and food imports.

The things on which Trump is adamant-

Entry of GMO crops in India
America wants India to allow Genetically Modified (GMO) technology in crops like corn, soybean and wheat. But Indian scientists, farmers’ organizations and policy makers warn that this could lead to the extinction of local crop species, affect biodiversity and have serious health implications in the long run. That is why India still maintains a ban on GMO crops.

Import of American dairy products
America wants India to allow American milk, cheese, butter and ghee in its market. But India is the largest milk producing country in the world and more than 3 crore small farmers here are dependent on dairy. Apart from this, there is also a big religious and cultural objection – in America, enzymes made from animal bones are added to the food of cows. India considers it ‘non-veg milk’ and there is opposition to it on religious grounds also.

Demand to reduce import duty on agricultural products
America wants India to reduce taxes on agricultural products like wheat, rice, soybean, corn, apple and grapes, but India keeps high tariffs on these to protect its farmers so that Indian production is not affected by cheap imports.

India’s stance – no compromise with farmers and food security
Despite pressure from many countries including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and America, the Indian government is not in favor of changing its food security policy. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, India provides free food grains to 80 crore people. The poverty rate in India was 27% in 2011-12. Which has reduced to 5.3% in 2022-23. Therefore, India argues that agricultural self-reliance and food security are part of the national policy and cannot be changed under foreign pressure.

US President Donald Trump has indicated that his administration may consider imposing new tariffs on foreign agricultural products, including Indian rice and Canadian fertilizers. Trump made this statement in a meeting held at the White House, where farmers complained about the impact on the American market due to cheap foreign products. This meeting was organized during the $12 billion relief package announced for American farmers.

American farmers troubled by foreign cheap rice
The farmers present in the meeting alleged that some countries are selling rice at low prices in the American market, causing huge losses to domestic farmers. On this Trump said, ‘They are cheating.’ He indicated that these allegations would be investigated and if necessary, tariffs would be imposed.

Merrill Kennedy, CEO of Louisiana’s Kennedy Rice Mill, claimed that India, Thailand and China are the main countries of this alleged dumping. He said that China is sending large quantities of rice, especially to Puerto Rico where the supply of American rice has almost stopped. Kennedy said, ‘We have not sent rice there for years. Farmers are badly affected in the southern states.

The tariffs are working, but…
Merrill Kennedy said at the meeting that the tariffs are proving effective, but they need to be more stringent. Trump expressed surprise at this and said, ‘You want more?’ But he agreed that if any country is dumping then action will be taken against it.

Trump instructed US Finance Minister Scott Besant, who was present at the meeting, to note down the list of countries mentioned by the farmers. When the farmers started giving information about the Indian subsidy policy, Trump interrupted and said, ‘First tell me the names of the countries… India, who else?’

Besant cited India, Thailand and China as the main sources and said that more countries may be included in the list, details of which will be given later. Trump assured that ‘action will be taken very soon’ on this matter.

Canadian fertilizers also on target
During the discussion, Trump indicated that heavy duty could also be imposed on fertilizers coming from Canada so that domestic production could be promoted. According to Bloomberg report, both India and Canada are trying to make trade deals with the US, but there has been little progress in these talks in recent months. In August, the Trump administration imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian products, saying India had erected barriers to the US market and continued buying oil from Russia.

India-US trade talks on 10–11 December
A senior US delegation led by Rick Switzer, deputy head of the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), will resume trade talks with India this week. Both sides will discuss many important issues on 10 and 11 December and try to take forward the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal will lead the talks from the Indian side. He said that India is trying to finalize the first phase of the agreement by the end of this year. Speaking at FICCI’s annual meeting on November 28, Aggarwal said, ‘I am confident that we will complete the agreement within this calendar year.’

India Export to US: India has suffered a big blow due to Trump’s tariffs. Due to this there has been a huge decline in exports to America. According to think-tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), due to American tariffs, India’s exports to America have declined by 28.5 percent between May and October 2025, from $ 8.83 billion to $ 6.31 billion.

America first imposed a baseline tariff of 10 percent on India on April 2, which was increased to 25 percent on August 7 and doubled by the end of August. In America, 25 percent extra tariff was imposed as penalty on India for purchasing oil from Russia. Trump’s increased taxes on Indian goods made them expensive in the American markets.

America is the largest export market

America is the biggest export market for India. This had a strong impact on India’s exports to America. According to GTRI, this also affected tariff-free products. India exports smartphones to the US on a large scale, which declined by 36 percent after the imposition of tariffs. It dropped from $2.29 billion in May to $1.50 billion in October.

Similarly, exports of labour-intensive products like gems and jewellery, solar panels, textiles, garments, chemicals and seafood also fell by 31.2 per cent from $4.78 billion to $3.29 billion between May and October. The impact of the tariff was seen on everything from metal to auto parts. Apart from this, there was a decline of 23.8 percent in the exports of iron, steel, aluminium, copper, products with similar tariffs across the world.

GDP growth surprised everyone

Meanwhile, when the GDP growth figures came out in the second quarter, it surprised everyone. During this period, India’s GDP growth rate was 8.2 percent. This was shocking because despite the damage caused by tariffs, the growth of the Indian economy surprised people. Of course, due to decline in India’s exports to America, all the industries in the country had to suffer losses.

To overcome this, India started looking for more export options. To sell its country’s goods, India found other markets such as gems and jewelery were sent on a large scale to Hong Kong, Belgium and UAE. Similarly, there was good demand for auto parts from countries like Germany and Thailand. Another major reason for support to the country’s GDP growth is GST Reforms. This increased domestic demand, to meet which manufacturing increased. This also strengthened the service sector and overall gave a boost to the country’s economy.

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India-US Trade Deal: Six rounds of talks have taken place between India and America regarding the trade agreement and now hopes are rising for it to reach its destination. Leading Japanese broking firm Nomura has meanwhile said that there is still uncertainty regarding the outcome of the US-India trade deal. Positive signals are being received from both the countries, yet the deal is yet to be signed.

Nomura hopes this

However, the brokerage also believes that the deal will be signed soon and the tariff will also probably come down to around 20 percent. In August, US President Donald Trump doubled the tariff on India to 50 percent. Out of this, 25 percent tariff has been imposed as a penalty for purchasing oil from Russia.

Made this estimate regarding the country’s GDP

Foreign brokerage firms also expressed their opinion regarding India’s economy. Nomura said, the country’s GDP growth rate was 8.2 percent in the September quarter, which was 7.8 percent in the June quarter. That means the performance of the Indian economy has been better than before. The brokerage has increased the GDP growth estimate for FY26 to 7.5 percent from the earlier 7.0 percent.

Also talked about repo rate

Apart from this, Nomura has also expressed hope about reduction in repo rate before the MPC meeting of RBI on 5th December. Nomura says, even though questions are being raised on the expectation of 25 basis points reduction in the repo rate in view of the strong GDP growth figures, we will stick to our earlier estimate of 25 basis points reduction in the repo rate.

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Donald Trump Net Worth: The net worth of US President Donald Trump is continuously increasing. Financial disclosures released last week revealed that Trump purchased at least $82 million, or $82 million, of corporate and municipal bonds between late August and early October. Some of these also include investment in selected sectors which are benefiting from his policy.

Value of bonds purchased by Trump

Documents released by the US Office of Government Ethics revealed that the maximum total value of all the bonds Trump has purchased is $337 million or more than $337 million.

Which companies bought bonds?

Trump’s purchased corporate bonds include many companies like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wall Street banks, chip manufacturing companies like Broadcom and Qualcomm, Meta, Home Depot, Usher Health. Apart from these, they have invested in bonds issued by municipalities, states, counties, school districts and other entities related to public agencies. Trump’s new bond investments span a variety of industries, including sectors that have already or are benefiting from his administration’s policy changes such as financial deregulation.

It was also learned that Trump made 175 financial purchases between August 28 and October 2. However, in these disclosures made under the Transparency Act of 1978, also known as the Ethics in Government Act, the exact amount for each purchase is not mentioned, but only a range is given. This financial data released last Saturday is also important because after assuming the office of President in January, he announced tariffs. There are allegations that his family has benefited from the trade war launched by Trump, which has increased his wealth.

Trump administration gave clarification

Before this revelation on Saturday, the Trump administration had said that Trump was going to make mandatory disclosures regarding his investments, but neither he nor his family members had any role in running this portfolio. It is being managed by a third party financial institution.

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Trump Tariff: America imposed 50 percent tariff on India in the month of August. Of these, 25 percent tariff was imposed as a penalty for purchasing crude oil from Russia. This tariff of US President Donald Trump also affected industries ranging from textile to leather, jewelery and seafood. However, Trump has said that he will reduce the import duty of more than 200 agricultural and farm products by November. Due to this, the expectations of Indian exports have increased again.

Which products did Trump give discount on?

• tea and coffee
• Spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cumin.
• Cashews and many other types of dry fruits or tree nuts.
• Processed food, all types of seasonal fruits, fruit pulp, fruit juice etc.

Talks on trade deal between the two also

Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO) says that the exemption in import duty can benefit Indian exports worth about $ 2.5-3 billion. This step can also be seen as a positive signal in the ongoing talks regarding trade deal between India and America. However, at present there is no exemption of any kind on prawns, basmati rice, gems and jewellery, clothes, these will continue to attract full tariff. Trump has not included many fresh and sour fruits and bananas in this list, hence the scope of exemption seems limited to many experts.

Why did Trump take this decision?

Trump took the decision to withdraw tariffs on selected goods because due to tariffs, many things had become very expensive in the American markets. Due to this, the general public there is facing problems, they have to spend more than before to buy food items. In such a situation, a need was felt to keep things affordable, due to which the idea of ​​making imports cheaper was thought of. This is also good news for Indian exporters, who will get a chance to sell their goods again in a big market like America.

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India Seafood Market: When US President Donald Trump imposed 50 percent tariff on India in August, an industry in the country suffered a major blow. This industry is India’s largest seafood market, which was deeply affected by the tariff. In particular, the tariff badly affected India’s shrimp exports because the US is a major buyer of Indian shrimp.

Business ruined by tariffs

India sends billions of dollars worth of shrimp to America every year and this business was completely ruined by the tariffs. Due to the tariff, the prices of shrimp in America increased by 20-21 percent and this increased burden of tariff fell on the consumers there. In such a situation, many orders of shrimp from America were cancelled. The matter deepened and shrimp exports from Andhra Pradesh to America declined by 59.72 percent. Obviously, this caused huge loss to the exporters.

Now the industry is preparing to make a comeback

Andhra Pradesh is the largest shrimp producing state in the country. Due to the losses caused by the tariffs, many seafood processing units here were closed as exporters were finding it difficult to cope with the sudden increase in business expenses. But now this industry has made an amazing comeback. India is exploring new markets while reducing its dependence on America for shrimp exports. These include Russia and the European Union.

India has also signed an agreement with Russia, under which Russia will allow export of about 25 fish processing units of India to its market. With this approval, now these units will be able to export their products directly to Russia. Recently the European Union (EU) also approved 102 new marine units of India.

Shrimp has the highest share in India’s seafood exports. In 2024–25, India exported shrimp worth $4.88 billion, which is about 66 percent of the total seafood exports. But Trump’s tariffs spoiled the whole game. However, now this industry of the country is slowly recovering by finding new paths. In this sequence, India is also in talks with UAE so that the industry there can get some new opportunities for its products.

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Donald Trump: US President Donald Trump is once again furious. On Sunday, he got angry at the countries doing business with Russia and warned of imposing more stringent penalties. At the same time, it was also hinted that Iran will soon be blacklisted.

Speaking to reporters at Palm Beach International Airport, Trump said that his Republican Party lawmakers are drafting legislation to impose sanctions on countries that have trade relations with Moscow. He said, very harsh sanctions will be imposed on any country doing business with Russia. I have suggested to include Iran also in this. Meanwhile, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. Under this, all the assets of Rosneft and Lukoil in America have been confiscated and American citizens have also been banned from doing any kind of financial transactions with these companies.

Despite increasing pressure from America, Russian President Vladimir Putin is adamant on not ending the war with Ukraine. Putin had said last month, “No self-respecting country and no self-respecting person takes any decision under pressure.” He warned that US sanctions could lead to a surge in global oil prices, which would have an adverse impact on Washington.

The new trade deal between India and America is now considered almost certain. After several rounds of talks between the two countries, this discussion has now reached the final stage. The government says that the agreement will happen only when it is in the interest of both the countries.

Awaiting America’s reply
According to government sources, most of the issues have been agreed upon on the trade agreement between India and America. Now the final reply is awaited from America. A senior official said that ‘the talks have been completed to a large extent and now perhaps there will be no need for any further rounds.’

Trump had indicated to reduce tariffs
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that America is ready to reduce the tariff imposed on India by 50%. He had indicated that the two countries are close to a comprehensive trade agreement.

‘We want a more balanced agreement in the interest of India’ – Piyush Goyal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India wants a just and balanced agreement. He said, ‘We are working to make a good trade agreement in the interest of India. It could happen any time – tomorrow, next month or next year. But the government is fully prepared.

Five rounds of talks completed
So far, five rounds of talks have taken place between the two countries at the level of officials. Apart from this, Piyush Goyal and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has also met his American counterparts.

Why is this agreement important for India
This trade agreement can prove to be a very important step for India. Through this, trade between the two countries will increase, Indian companies will get new opportunities in the American market and India’s position will become stronger in global trade.