SKM slams Modi Govt over US trade deal, warns of severe blow to Indian farmers
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, February 3, 2026: The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has strongly condemned what it termed the Modi government’s “total surrender before US imperialism,” warning that the proposed India–US trade deal allowing zero per cent import tariff on American agricultural goods would devastate Indian farmers and the rural economy.
In a statement issued by its media cell, SKM said the agreement would flood Indian markets with heavily subsidised US agricultural produce, directly impacting crops such as soybean, maize, cotton and the dairy sector, thereby jeopardising the livelihoods of crores of farmers across the country.
Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement from the Red Fort on August 15, 2025, where he said he was prepared to “pay a heavy price” to protect farmers’ interests, SKM accused the government of betraying that promise by allegedly bowing to pressure from US President Donald Trump to allow duty-free imports. The farmers’ body said cultivators would never forgive the Prime Minister for what it described as a “historic betrayal.”
Highlighting the imbalance, SKM pointed out that while the US has around 18.8 lakh farmers (as per a 2024 survey), India has nearly 14.65 crore operational farm holdings, with about 48 per cent of the workforce and 65 per cent of the population dependent on agriculture and allied sectors. It warned that opening Indian markets to US farm products would cripple small and marginal farmers.
The organisation cited remarks by US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who said the deal would enable the US to export more farm products to India’s large market, boost rural incomes in America and reduce the US’s $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit with India. SKM said this showed that while the US administration was protecting its rural economy, the Indian government was allegedly weakening its own.
Announcing its agitation programme, SKM called for a nationwide campaign in villages from February 4 to 11, including mass meetings and burning of effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. The farmers’ body also appealed for full support to the General Strike on February 12, with large-scale protest actions planned at tehsil headquarters and urban centres across the country.