Public sentiment towards the India-US trade deal is highly negative, with strong concerns over US agricultural policies, particularly regarding dairy regulations that threaten India's traditional practices. Commenters express skepticism about US intentions, frustration with local political responses, and a steadfast commitment to preserving India's agricultural integrity.

Government of India

US Government

Indian Dairy Farmers

Some background and a summary: Trump’s reciprocal tariffs precipitated a rehashing of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US which has been under negotiation for months. Agriculture has been a significant point of contention with the US wanting India to open its market to genetically modified corn, soy as well as industrial dairy farms. Indian farmers have so far successfully blocked GM crops and they remain banned in the country (except for BT Cotton and isolated mustard and aubergine trials). Majority of Indian agriculture and dairy is also subsistence based with traditional methods being used for the latter.

IMO: This FTA is an *extremely* important thing to watch out for considering the economic and environmental impact of industrial dairy farms and the so far unclear long term impact of GM crops.

Some-Body-Else

We can’t accept GM crops or US dairy. It is bad for our health and economy. Time to ditch US dollar and move towards integrating bricks-pay

SeparateNet9451

Don't accept GM seeds. Indian farmers will become indentured servant to Monsanto. India needs to have it's own seeds for crops.

Certain-Bath8037

Someone ban this bot already it's always in my feed

Klutzy_Environment13

It's good that we've taken a stand against the US bullying. These sectors are very sensitive in India.

We have a million issues but our relative food quality has been one of our strengths. Do not let it go away by the entry of US into these sectors.

Square-Care5643

damian_wayne_13335

Trump ko bitcoin ka koi piramid scheme samjhao. Pura hi pagal ho gaya hai ye. Iske rahte kuch nahi hoga aab. Dusre term me ye sathiya gaya hai.

Ray_Binod

The shit monsanto pulls needs to be kept far away from here. 
No need for FDI in these sectors.

Archersharp162

utl94_nordviking

There are a lot of conflicting reports regarding this matter. Earlier today there was a report that the deal is progressing, and some officials have extended their stay to iron out the details before the leaders could finally give their approval.

Don't know which report to trust, however, there's no doubt that if there's a choke point in the negotiations, it'll be agri and genetically modified crops.

Reelthusiast

Check out r/ShareMarketupdates for this type of post daily

mohityadavv

India needs to open out the markets completely. Socialist protectionist measures hurt our own output in the long run. We can’t be globally competitive if we keep trying to shelter inefficiencies in our agricultural sector.

People say small farmer will be hurt and if not done properly that’s true. The freemarket demands economies of scale and farming on smaller pieces of land is just not economically viable. However there is a secret weapon India has been holding onto but not using for decades now. Cooperatives. Like Amul. We need more of them to help the small farmer. They seem more effective than unions and give the small farmers an actual standing in the competitive market.

In the process of trying to protect small farmers in the short run, we are also not using the same land and other finite resources to produce the maximum yield. The farmers are also under great pressure due to harvest uncertainty. Perhaps a collection cooperative that they pool all their land into and work for in return of a fixed respectable wage would be a better way to go forward. The cooperative will be owned solely by the farmers and no one else (like Amul is now). The farmers get predictable income, the cooperative has better ability to shield against downturns, negotiate with government, sell direct to the market, get cheap financing, and also employ economies of scale for greater yield. At the end of the day, any left over profits are to be used for expansion of the same mission or returned to the farmers who own the cooperative and also comprise of the bulk of its labour force.

One thing people usually look over when trying to protect local agricultural markets from the US is that if the US is producing something for cheaper than India despite the higher costs of labour over there then India should not produce that thing and rather produce more of what’s more economically viable and more profitable. This would be markets at work.

If we don’t go cooperative route and simply open blindly, then small farmers will be destroyed by the free markets and you’d see more farming companies (think llps and limited companies) pop up who will buy the farmer’s land for pennies on the dollar and then use globally competitive methods to increase yield and produce what’s profitable.

UnoptimizedStudent

[deleted]

Modi doesn't have diplomacy or intellect to handle this.  We will get burnt.

Travel__Agent007

This won’t go well for India. Trump can make it very expensive for US companies to operate in India which would destroy the bustling tech sector. India has to get rid of Modi and find someone more astute in trade negotiations.

TexasRanger78746

Fuck Indian agriculture. Sitting on one of the most fertile lands on the planet and not using it to its full capacity.  
I really hope the Trump admin arm twists India into removing the agricultural clause.  
Indian agriculture either needs to adapt to current times or perish.

DamnBored1

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`India requires a comprehensive veterinary health certificate for milk and milk product imports, which must verify the absence of drugs, antibiotics, pesticides and heavy metal residues.`

Make it make sense how is that a bad thing?

AdNational1490

Lololol.  We just suspended milk quality testing because of DOGE cuts.

[https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-suspends-milk-quality-tests-amid-workforce-cuts-2025-04-21/](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-suspends-milk-quality-tests-amid-workforce-cuts-2025-04-21/)

Republicans can't be trusted to pick their own nose, let alone run an economy.

Terrible_Serve8545

The United States FDA literally destroyed entire contigents of mangoes from India recently for not meeting their food safety standards, which is fair to the Americans.
Talk about double standards.

hakunakh

Both the US and Canada are highly protective of their Dairy/Meat industries. It's comical to complain about other countries returning the favour.

SknarfM

Yeah same with Canada. They are clueless.

Regardless of how these trade talks go I would suggest people be very careful about American food products in the near future. 

I hope people read between the lines of whats happening here.

No_Method5989

Forward-Weather4845

Lol, also heard the orange dumbfuck complain Australia doesn't buy US meat. Mate, where I am in Asia we have US meat, but I'd go nowhere near it. Them corporations have no checks on the impact of these foods on human life. I'll buy local or European.

eventarg

yes, countries have safety standards. Most countries care about their citizens.

sounds like the USA cares less and less every day about their own people.

foodbytes

It's almost like tarrifs are unnecessary trade barriers....

Sajomir

Remember this is the administration that has RFK trying to get everyone to drink raw milk. The same guy that thinks everyone should just get every disease and virus so we become “immune”. It’s not about science, or even money, they just want to say they beat India in the trade talks.

Jamesw619

Doesn’t India have way many cows and buffaloes? Why would they need to import milk and dairy products from USA? This is just TACO posturing

ThatsAllFolksAgain

Instead of bitching so much, maybe the US should just focus on raising its food quality to meet whatever standards the country they're trying to sell food to has.

LockNo2943

&gt; "Unnecessary trade barriers"

rich coming from the country announcing a new (or a removal) tariff every other day.

rcanhestro

Trump is so out of control that it's not funny or credible anymore. He needs to be committed.

kl7aw220

Trump: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T WANT OUR RAW MILK?!”

Away-Somewhere-64

You see Donnie other countries have standards they don't just allow big companies to buy their way out of with lobbyists.

Thatdudegrant

I think the US needs to STFU at the WTO right the fuck now

doxxingyourself

This nutcase administration just argumentatively digs up invalid justifications to beat up on foreign countries like Trump’s hero Putin. Like ‘trumping up’ charges on Abrego Garcia or broadcasting Putin’s own visibly false talking points in official communications from a US president without any backlash in the US. Conservatives are children in foreign policy and economics. Petulant, disturbed children and I apologize to such children for even bringing them into this.

GuitarGeezer

US bitching about "unnecessary trade barriers"? that's rich

sous_vid_marshmallow

Unnecessary trade barriers… oh like tariffs. But actual regulations for food safety- now that’s going to far. What a fucking joke this administration is.

modernmann

USA diary products are not suited for India. Indians use A2 milk, around 90% of the milk used in India is A2, whether it is from water buffalo or indigenous humped cows. USA uses A1 milk. A1 and A2 are milk proteins. A2 is easier to digest than A1 milk. A1 milk will create all sort of health issues for Indians.

_Antinatalism_

Epstein files. Epstein files. Epstein files.

huhseriously

I seeing similar headlines with canada and Australia,  whats up with US and its need to expand the diary industry?

anyagraha_jeevi

I'm surprised this went to the WTO. The Trump admin clearly has completely ignored the entire existence of the WTO (but even before that, the US was clearly trying to kill it by not appointing judges anymore)

bitflag

Oh, c'mon.  US threw glove at major trading partner, Trump/Musk gutted federal agencies responsible to protect health of US citizens.

macross1984

Markjohn66

WTO is basically not functional at this point since there's no judges.

Bazrjarmek

here’s an idea. Stop fucking exporting food. That will cause prices to drop immediately

paolilon

The US has barely any food safety regulations because they never stand up to their billionaire overlords and now this must be everybody else’s problem too?

stogie_t

Really??  If you threaten a country obviously the population in that country are gonna say FU!

wiebols

Astigi

Caring about your citizens is apparently unlawful at least according to Mr. 'Everything I Touch Turns Bad.

manwhodream21

Trump admin “These fucking ‘unnecessary trade barriers’, 30% tariffs on everyone!”

Known-Complaint-6835

Someone correct me if i am.wrong. I know a little bit about India and opening up agriculture, dairy and auto to.the US is almost impossible in India. Indian politics is extremely populist and the agricultural industry is an extremely emotional one for.the indian society , there is no way in hell they are going to let american imports. Same thing with dairy.  Indian auto industry will be.in doom mode if american vehicles are allowed.  Am I hyperboling or is what i said true somewhat?

Past_Page_4281

Wait, I thought Trump’s nickname in highschool was “unnecessary trade barrier”.

Spongman

As India and the United States negotiate a trade deal, significant tensions have arisen over agricultural issues, particularly concerning dairy.

India-US Trade Deal and Dairy Concerns

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

Highlighted Comments

Parties Involved

What the people want