Why were agriculture and dairy sectors kept out of the trade deal? Know why these are sensitive areas?

India-US Trade Deal: The trade deal between India and America was finally sealed, which was awaited for a long time. In this trade deal between the two countries, there is talk of including strategic purchase of energy including crude oil from Venezuela, but under this the interests of the farmers will be protected.

No compromise with the interests of farmers

Sources said that sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy have been kept out of the trade deal. Sources say that even though India’s effort under the agreement is to increase its access to the American market, still India has not made any compromise regarding sensitive sectors like agriculture and dairy. This is so that crores of farmers and livestock farmers can be saved from cheap imports.

Cheap imports from America would have hurt the livelihood of these farmers. In America, most of the farming is mechanized, whereas in India, small farmers or dairy systems are still non-mechanized. In such a situation, it is not possible for them to compete with America. Under the agreement with America, the tariff on import of Indian goods has been reduced from 25 percent to 18 percent, which will encourage Indian exporters.

Threat to farmers’ livelihood!

A large number of people in our country earn their living from farming. India’s agriculture sector provides employment to about 45 percent of the people. India’s dairy sector is also dependent on small and marginal farmers. They barely have 1-2 cows or buffaloes. Whereas America, New Zealand and Australia have big corporate firms. Apart from this, these developed countries give huge subsidies to their farmers.

If India had removed tariffs from these sectors under the trade deal, the Indian markets would have been filled with cheap foreign products. Due to this, the farmers of our country would suffer a loss of about Rs 1.03 crore annually. According to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, in the recent India-US trade deal, sensitive agricultural products and dairy have been completely protected so that the interests of Indian farmers are not compromised.

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