Trump Gets Serious Over India ‘Dumping’ Rice Into US

US President Donald Trump has yet again exhibited his anti-Indian attitude and said India should not be dumping rice into the US market. Trump made the statement during a roundtable with farming and agriculture representatives at the White House. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins were also present at the meeting. Trump announced USD 12 billion in federal aid for farmers.

During the discussion, Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family’s agribusiness, Kennedy Rice Mill in Louisiana, raised the issue that rice producers in southern US are really struggling, as other countries are dumping rice into the US market. When the US President asked which countries were dumping rice into America, Kennedy replied India, and Thailand, and even China into Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US markets but we haven’t shipped rice into that country in years.”

However, she said that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are working but opined the US needs to double down and Trump responded in the positive. Addressing Bessent, he asked why is India being allowed to dump rice into the US. “They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?” When Bessent replied US was still working on their trade deal, Trump said they should not be dumping. At this time, Kennedy informed Trump there’s a WTO case against India.

In response, Trump repeatedly said that curbing the dumping of rice would get solved easily within a day by imposing more tariffs. However, Trump government has to win a case in the Supreme Court to impose fresh tariffs. Lower courts in the US ruled that Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on nations around the world is illegal and a final decision on it will be taken by the Supreme Court.

India is the largest producer of rice, 150 million tonnes, and has a 29 per cent share of the global market. West Asia remains the dominant destination for Indian rice. The Indian Rice Exporters Federation data reveals that India is also the top exporter, accounting to 30.3 per cent share of global exports in 2024-25.

According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) website, India exported about 2.34 lakh tonne of rice to the US in 2024 fiscal, less than 5 per cent of its total global basmati rice exports of 52.4 lakh tonne. Sona Masoori is the most preferred in the US and Australian markets. Trump had imposed 50 per cent tariff on India, the highest in the world, including 25% for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.