US President Donald Trump on Monday signalled that he may impose fresh tariffs on agricultural imports, especially rice from India and fertiliser from Canada. Speaking at a meeting at the White House, Trump said India should not be allowed to “dump” its rice into the US and a tariff must be imposed on New Delhi.
Farmers have pointed to falling rice prices, claiming imports from countries like India, Vietnam and Thailand are undercutting their crops. He said he would “take care” of the issue.
"Why is India allowed to do that (dumping rice into the US)? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?" Trump asks the United States Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, during the meeting.
Replying to him, Bessent said that there were no such exemptions and the US was negotiating a trade deal with India.
Trump said India cannot continue dumping rice in the US.
Trump to impose tariffs on Canada’s fertilisers
The US President also said tariffs would be imposed on fertiliser coming from Canada. He said the move will boost 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. And we can do it here. We can all do that here," he said.
Trump made these remarks while announcing USD 12 billion in fresh support for American farmers.
Notably, farmers in the US are under continuous pressure due to inflation and market challenges linked to tariff policies. Negotiations with India and Canada are still underway to materialise a trade deal.
India-US trade deal
Earlier this year, Trump introduced a 50 per cent tariff on products from India, arguing that the country maintains restrictive trade practices and has significant energy imports. A US delegation is scheduled to travel to India this week for further discussions.
