AIKS slams Indo-US trade deal as 'death warrant for farmers,' calls for nationwide protest on July 9

By A Representative

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has strongly condemned the proposed Indo-US trade agreement under the “U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century,” calling it a "death warrant" for Indian farmers. In a scathing press statement, AIKS accused the BJP-led Narendra Modi government of surrendering national interests under U.S. pressure and demanded an immediate halt to the ongoing negotiations.

The COMPACT, unveiled jointly by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, is projected as a transformative pact encompassing trade, military cooperation, technology transfer, and financial alignment. AIKS argues that the deal, being fast-tracked under threats of reciprocal tariffs by the U.S., will have devastating consequences for India's agrarian sector, financial sovereignàty, and national policy autonomy.

AIKS warned that the deal would open the floodgates for cheap imports from the U.S., especially in agriculture and dairy, thereby decimating Indian farmers’ livelihoods. “India is being turned into a dumping ground for U.S. surplus produce, especially after American agro-exports to China declined by 55%,” the organisation said.

Citing data from January to April 2025, AIKS noted a sharp 45% increase in agricultural imports from the U.S., including an 810% jump in oilseed and soybean imports, 122% in cotton, 43% in dairy, and 392% in tobacco. The impact has already been severe, AIKS claimed, with import-driven price collapses ruining apple growers in Kashmir and Himachal, soybean farmers in central India, and cotton producers across the country. In Maharashtra alone, 767 farmer suicides were recorded in the first quarter of 2025, it added.

AIKS also rejected Prime Minister Modi’s target of achieving $500 billion in bilateral trade with the U.S. by 2030, calling it unrealistic and damaging to rural economies. The organisation decried what it termed “imperialist pressure” from Washington and called for a recall of the Indian delegation currently negotiating the interim agreement in Washington.

Beyond agriculture, AIKS criticised the deal for undermining India's autonomy in banking and finance, and cited undignified treatment of Indian immigrants and U.S. interference in Indo-Pak relations as further reasons for public alarm.

The farmers’ body urged all democratic forces, citizens, and workers’ and farmers’ organisations to join the nationwide strike and agitation called by the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) and Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on July 9. The coordinated action will also press for other long-standing demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP), higher minimum wages, debt waivers, rejection of the four labour codes, and action against rising communal violence.

AIKS has demanded full parliamentary scrutiny of any trade pact affecting agriculture, finance, or national sovereignty.

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