US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh warning that he may impose new tariffs on agricultural imports; particularly rice from India and fertiliser from Canada; as trade negotiations with both countries show little progress.
His comments came during a White House event where he unveiled a multi-billion-dollar farm relief package aimed at supporting American farmers.
Trump argued that agricultural imports from India and several Asian nations were hurting domestic producers and insisted that tariffs remained his most effective tool to shield US agriculture.
He announced that the administration would provide “$12 billion in economic assistance to American farmers,” funded through tariff revenues collected from multiple trading partners.
“We’re really taking in trillions of dollars, if you think about it,” Trump said, claiming that other countries “took advantage of us like nobody’s ever seen.”
Positioning the relief program as essential to stabilising the farm economy, he said farmers were “an indispensable national asset, part of the backbone of America.”
He maintained that tariff pressure was crucial to reviving US agriculture and countering what he described as inherited inflation and depressed commodity prices.
India became a central focus when rice producers from Louisiana complained about the impact of Indian imports on southern growers.
After being told that Indian firms own “the two largest brands” in the US retail rice market, Trump responded, “All right, and we’ll take care of it. That’s great. It’s so easy… Tariffs, again, solves the problem in two minutes.”
He further said India “shouldn’t be dumping,” adding, “I heard that from others. You can’t do that.”
Trump also hinted at potential tariff action on fertiliser imports from Canada, arguing that such measures could encourage domestic production.
“A lot of it comes 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. “And we can do it here. We can all do that here.”
India-US agricultural trade has grown significantly over the past decade. India exports basmati, non-basmati rice, spices, and marine products to the US, while importing American almonds, cotton, and pulses.
However, longstanding disputes over subsidies, market access, and several WTO complaints; particularly related to rice and sugar; continue to complicate negotiations between the two countries.
