Farmers first: No compromise in India-US trade deal, says government

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) - Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday that the trade deal India has struck with the United States under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership is significantly better than the US's trade deals with other neighboring countries. It does not compromise the interests of the country's farmers, dairy sector workers, and fishermen.

Addressing a press conference, he said the Prime Minister has prioritized national interest and leveraged his friendship with US President Donald Trump to secure a very good deal for India. The trade deal will benefit labor-intensive sectors of the economy, such as textiles, leather, seafood, and gems and jewelry, and will open up significant opportunities for exports to the US.

He further said that the engineering goods sector, which includes auto components and other items, will also benefit from this deal. The Union Minister further said that the MSME sector, which generates the most jobs in the economy, will also benefit from this trade deal as lower tariffs will make exports from this sector more competitive. Goyal said that PM Modi has finalized this deal, which was stuck in long negotiations at the level of officials and ministers and was not yielding any results.

He argued that finalising the trade deal was essential because the high 50 percent tariffs imposed by the Trump administration had severely impacted Indian exports of labour-intensive products like food and textiles to the US. “On behalf of 1.4 billion Indians, I want to thank Prime Minister Modi because this agreement will bring many opportunities for India's economic growth, farmers, poor, fishermen, women and youth,” he said.

Goyal launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of misleading the nation and showing no concern for India's development. He alleged, "Negative-minded leaders like Rahul Gandhi are misleading the nation. They have no concern for the country's progress. The Congress government pushed India into the top five of the world's weakest economies, and if Rahul Gandhi has his way, he will return the country to that same situation."