Several India farm groups plan nationwide actions tomorrow against the interim U.S.-India trade deal announced last week, whose terms will harm agriculture in multiple ways. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) umbrella association of farmers’ organizations is coordinating a general strike. A member of its coordinating group told the media this week, “Indian agriculture would be left hanging at the mercy of multinational corporations, undermining food sovereignty, rural employment, and long term sustainability.” Over 80% of India’s farmers are family, small-scale operations.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is promoting the U.S.-India deal with wild-eyed geopolitical logic. Farmers anywhere be damned. Speaking on Fox News this week, Greer said that the India deal is a way to put “America First” in trade, by stepping back from China, and using India as an “off-ramp” for U.S.-based transnational companies. He called the India gambit a “global waystation” for companies exiting the Chinese market for an alternative market. He said that the ideal is for production to return to the U.S., but in the meantime, there is a process of “near-shoring” going on, where India can serve as a secondary hub for U.S. companies. Greer refers generally to all categories of trade, from electronics, to food, with the anti-reality, anti-China point applicable.
