US President Donald Trump unveiled a multi-billion-dollar farm aid bundle whereas sharpening his criticism of agricultural imports from India and different Asian suppliers, telling a White Home roundtable that tariffs could be used aggressively to guard American producers.
Opening the session with farmers, lawmakers, and high cupboard officers, Trump on Monday stated the administration would direct “$12 billion in financial help to American farmers”, funded by tariff revenues the US is amassing from buying and selling companions. “We’re actually taking in trillions of {dollars}, if you consider it,” he stated, including that international locations “took benefit of us like no person’s ever seen.”
The President framed the brand new help as important to stabilising the farm economic system after what he repeatedly referred to as inherited inflation and depressed commodity costs. “Farmers are an indispensable nationwide asset, a part of the spine of America,” he stated, arguing that tariff leverage was central to his technique for reviving US agriculture.
India surfaced prominently for instance throughout a prolonged dialogue on rice imports, which one Louisiana producer described as devastating for southern growers.
Meryl Kennedy, CEO of Kennedy Rice Mill, advised the President that the US market was being hit by “international locations… dumping rice into this nation at present,” including: “The tariffs are working, however we have to double down.” She listed “India, Thailand, [and] China into Puerto Rico” as main sources of subsidised imports and stated the development was undermining home producers. “We’ve by no means seen imports this nice,” she famous, pointing to a WTO case in opposition to India and urging harder restrictions.
Trump pressed for specifics. “Why is India not allowed to try this? They need to pay tariffs,” he stated, directing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to overview potential actions. When advised that Indian companies owned “the 2 largest manufacturers” within the US retail rice market, Trump responded: “All proper, and we’ll deal with it. That’s nice. It’s really easy… Tariffs, once more, solves the issue in two minutes.”
Tariffs additionally featured in a broader dialogue of adversarial commerce practices affecting soybeans and different crops. Trump stated he had just lately spoken with Chinese language President Xi Jinping and anticipated giant extra purchases. “China… is shopping for an incredible quantity of soybeans,” he stated. “I believe he’s going to do much more than he promised to do.”
Bessent stated the Busan framework Trump negotiated with Xi included commitments for China to purchase “at the very least $12 million metric tons of US soybeans this rising season, adopted by a minimal of 25 million tons yearly for the subsequent three years.” He described the $11–12 billion farm bundle as a essential “liquidity bridge” and asserted that Trump was “ushering in a brand new golden age for agriculture.”
For a lot of within the room, India-related commerce points had been intertwined with issues about world competitors and the way forward for US commodity markets. Kennedy urged the administration to recognise rice as “a nationwide safety problem,” calling it “a foreign money in lots of of those international locations.” She warned that subsidised international rice was displacing American merchandise overseas, together with in Puerto Rico, as soon as a significant marketplace for US-grown grain.
Trump repeatedly argued that tariff authority—now topic to a Supreme Courtroom case—was important to confronting such practices. “If we had a president that stated, no, you possibly can’t try this… we might have by no means misplaced our chip trade,” he stated whereas tying the argument again to agricultural imports.
A number of farmers urged quicker motion. Iowa producer Cordt Holub thanked Trump for the “bridge cost” and stated home insurance policies resembling E15 might enhance markets at dwelling. Trump replied, “So E15 is an enormous deal?” earlier than promising continued overview.
The occasion additionally noticed administration officers spotlight what they described as a dramatic deterioration within the rural economic system underneath Biden. Nationwide Financial Council Director Kevin Hassett stated “150,000 farms closed” through the earlier administration, and that curiosity bills had surged. “You marvel why it’s that we’d like this $11 billion, perhaps $12 billion… a gap was dug within the earlier administration,” he stated.
India-US agricultural commerce has expanded over the previous decade, with India exporting basmati, rice merchandise, spices, and marine items whereas importing US almonds, cotton, and pulses. Disputes over subsidies, market entry, and WTO complaints—significantly involving rice and sugar—have periodically strained bilateral negotiations.
China stays the biggest purchaser of US soybeans, and tariff-linked volatility has formed world commodity flows since 2018. Trump’s renewed reliance on tariffs alerts potential turbulence for Asian agricultural exporters within the months forward.