Trump’s Rice Tariff Threat on India: Ego, Politics and the “Dumping” Debate Explained

US President Donald Trump is a little upset with India. The reason for this upset could be that he didn’t like the friendship between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi . He didn’t see the love that existed between them. Trump may have been irritated by it. The way they spent time together, which the world witnessed so well. The way President Putin was welcomed in India, may have bothered him.

Donald Tariff (Trump), known as Mr. Peace President, has once again imposed tariffs. And this time, his tariffs are going to be a little more expensive for India. There’s talk about Donald Trump’s various attempts to woo India in the past few days, including the purchase of oil from India and the friendship with Russia. Now, he’s going a step further, claiming that India is forcibly importing rice into our country. It sells it to us at cheap rates, forcing Americans to eat it. In such a situation, we’ll impose a tariff on rice purchases, and they’ll consider it dumping. Now, what is this dumping? What is the story of the rice tariff?

How Trump, using India’s name, announced $1 billion in aid to his own farmers. It is recent anger the US President expressed against India in the name of rice, saying that we couldn’t say anything about it earlier. So, let’s finally vent our anger, and add a new word to that anger: dumping. 

Yesterday’s incident involved a lady trying to instigate Mr. Trump. She was saying, “Sir, Mr. Trump, our country’s farmers are very troubled these days.” He asked, “Why are you troubled? Our farmers aren’t getting a fair price.” He asked, “What’s the matter?” He said, “They’re not getting a fair price for their rice.” He said, “Sir, there are six states in America that produce rice., “Sir, they don’t get a fair price for their rice.” “Well, tell me what doesn’t happen?” He said, “Sir, the problem is that India, Thailand, Vietnam, and China sell cheap rice in our country. They sell cheap rice. They’re actually dumping. In such a situation, our farmers don’t get a fair price for their rice because our farmers produce expensive rice.” 

Oh, he immediately asks his Commerce Minister. Tell me, haven’t you imposed a tariff on rice on India yet? He said, “Sir, we have a trade deal with India right now. A good trade deal.” “Yes, brother, look, we’ll have to impose a ban on rice. We’ll have to impose a tariff on rice.” 

 Trump was seen doing something similar here. As soon as the problem was explained to him, the minister was told directly, “Let’s take action on the spot.” This woman you saw whispering in his ears is named Marilyn Kennedy. She’s the CEO of a Louisiana-based Kennedy Rice Mill, and she had taken a representation to Trump on behalf of American farmers, saying, “Sir, look, we’re facing all kinds of problems like this. Okay, so what is this dumping?” What’s the story of rice? 

India is the largest rice producer in the world.  The rice we produce isn’t just bought worldwide for food. The flavor we create in our rice—a distinctive aroma that gives off a very aromatic scent—is found only in Indian rice, Basmati. Indian Basmati and Jasmine rice are in tremendous demand worldwide, and since India is the largest rice producer, countries around the world want to buy it.

If I were to show you the countries that produce rice globally, India would rank number one, followed by China. We are at the top in rice production. And when it comes to exports after rice production, we are far ahead. We export 22,000 metric tons of rice annually. This is the figure for 2024-25. The second country after us is Thailand. Then there’s Vietnam, then Pakistan. We’re also a top producer, and China is also a good producer, but it doesn’t export. Self-consumption is a factor. In our case, we’re producing and exporting properly.

There’s another figure here, and that’s another figure. You have to look at that figure: the US, which is having a big problem with our rice, is exporting 3,200 metric tons of rice.

Consider that the US itself has export-quality rice. Yet, they’re complaining that India is dumping rice in the US.

So the US is having trouble paying the rice farmers. It’s a strange situation. America itself is a rice exporter. Yet, it still has to buy rice from India. It complains about why Indian rice is being sold in America, even though America itself exports rice. So, you might ask, if it exports itself, why does it buy from India?

Why is that? Indian rice has a distinctive aroma that people are excited to eat. That’s the Basmati rice imported from India. And the large number of Asians living in America love Indian Basmati rice. That’s why our rice is sold in abundance in America. Right? Not just in America, there are 172 countries in the world where India sells its rice. Moreover, America isn’t our largest exporting country; we sell the most of our rice, Basmati, to Saudi Arabia. Our exports of Basmati and non-Basmati rice are increasing year after year. If we talk about the value of rice, we export rice worth 12.5 billion. That’s a figure for you. In 2014-25, we exported $12.5 billion worth of rice. Saudi Arabia is also among the countries to which we export the most rice. He asked, “Sir, what’s the problem with America? Trump just wanted to respond to us.” I’ve told you many times before. Their keywords are India and Pakistan. If their news hasn’t appeared in the newspapers for a long time or hasn’t reached a million views, then just like how views are garnered in our media in the name of religion, using the names of India and Pakistan, America knows exactly that. 

Trump knows that if they want to promote their news in any way, just mention India and their news will automatically be promoted because we are the largest in the world, meaning our numbers are the highest. We are a huge internet user group. We are found on social media the maximum amount of time. In such a situation, they simply mentioned India. Let me present some figures before you. 

Saudi Arabia is India’s largest importer of rice, purchasing 11.73 metric tons. Iraq imports 10 lakh metric tons of rice from us. Iraq then imports from us. Iran imports from us. If we look at the top 10, then Yemen comes next. Then comes the UAE. At sixth place is the US, which also imports rice from us. But who is facing the problem? America is facing the problem.

And let me tell you an interesting fact: The rice America imports from us is only 3% of what we sell to the world. The rice the US imports from us is worth only $392 million. India exports rice worth $12.5 billion worldwide. Of that, they export 3% of the total quantity to the US. Even within that 3%, 86% of the rice imported here is premium Basmati rice. This means that America itself is an exporter of rice. 

However, there is a special demand for Indian rice. You can imagine Trump’s intelligence from the fact that even if a tariff is imposed on it, people will still order and eat it because it is already premium rice. People are liking premium rice and they are willing to buy it even at an additional tariff. This is the reason why, wherever Basmati is sold in the world, the US ranks sixth overall in imports of our country’s rice. But the US ranks fourth in Basmati rice production, and 86% of our total rice sales means that if we sell 100 kg of rice to the US, they buy 86% of it as Basmati rice, so they can sell us that kind of rice. 

Now, the thing for Trump to understand is that when you grow and sell your own rice, people don’t eat your rice. They don’t even import ordinary rice from India. They import Basmati, the high-quality rice from here. So, even if you impose tariffs on India and make rice more expensive, they will ultimately make this rice more expensive for Americans. Even then, they will buy from the Americans. Why would they? Because the data shows that they don’t want to eat yours. These figures in front of you indicate that India exported rice worth $392 million. That was 3% of our total rice exports by volume, and the US already imposes a 53% tariff on our rice. Understand the 53% tariff on rice this way: India’s tariffs were originally 25%. We had to impose a 25% tariff on Russia’s friendship. Beyond that, we already pay a significant tariff on rice. Meaning, it’s a higher tariff than normal. Despite the amount we pay on rice, Americans still buy and consume rice from us. Who suffers this loss? It can’t be a significant loss for us. Why can’t it be? Because it accounts for 3% of our total volume. But it could be detrimental to the Americans, because the increased tariff will make their consumption more expensive. They will be forced to eat more expensive rice. But America is America. Trump is Trump. He announced such a tariff on India. This has happened.

Now a question will arise in your mind: how did India achieve such a great position in rice production? The reason behind this, which is publicly very much unknown, is that firstly, India’s climate is very favorable for rice production.

Secondly, the Indian government provides a minimum support price for rice. This minimum support price eliminates the fear for farmers in rice production. They don’t have to worry about whether the government will buy the rice after production. The government always maintains a minimum support price for rice, so that whether the market buys it or not, we can still do so.

Then farmers receive a support price from this, they no longer worry about production.

Instead of selling their produce to the government, they can sell it to the market. Otherwise, they can manage by selling it to the government.In such a situation, many countries around the world, including the United States, go to the World Trade Organization to complain about India, saying that the way India subsidizes farmers is distorting trade practices.

Because the subsidies provided by India make their rice cheaper in the market. When they sell cheap rice to other countries, no one wants to buy rice from any other country.

They go to the WTO with this claim. The United States has also complained to the WTO several times about these subsidies to India. India’s statement here is very simple: “Okay? We will not export rice to you, the farmers.” When we farmers ban rice exports, like we’ve thrown tantrums at them a couple of times.

Just look at the news from November 25th, when India lifted the ban on rice exports, global food prices stabilized. People believe rice is our food. But those countries that are exporters have a big problem with India. They have a problem with India providing cheap rice in the market. Let me share an interesting statistic: Indian rice is already more expensive in the US than its competitors—rice from Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Yet, people—or those countries around the world, including the US—believe that India is cheapening its rice with subsidies. In reality, the quality of Indian rice cannot be produced anywhere else. 

For our Basmati rice, the Gangetic plains and the foothills of the Himalayas are truly ideal for its cultivation. The Gangetic plains and the foothills of the Himalayas impart a distinctive aroma to it. Meanwhile, American farmers, in a completely mechanical way, produce rice that they sell to other neighboring countries, but Americans don’t consume it. But the name they gave to Indian rice was dumping. Now, what is this dumping? To put it simply, it’s like you have leftover goods and you throw them away, or I know that they have to throw away their goods at a cheap price, in their house, in this city, in this company, or in this country. Now, they have to throw away their goods at a cheap price so that their market doesn’t flourish. To facilitate this process, governments often force their prices to drop significantly. For example, if the Indian government starts exporting rice at such low rates, knowing that no other country can do so. When it can’t, the cheap goods, when they reach other countries, destroy local businesses. For example, at one time, Chinese goods were flooding India. Phones, laptops, cameras, and other electronic items were manufactured in large quantities in China. China shipped these goods to our country to prevent any domestic production unit in India from establishing itself. But the government, with great wisdom, identified them first, imposed tariffs on them, implemented anti-dumping measures, and then developed a parallel system within its own country. The United States believes that India is dumping rice in the United States. That means they’re picking up cheap rice and throwing it away, and as a result, they’re unable to sell their goods. This could be America’s perspective, because six of the rice-producing states in the US are Trump states, where Trump wins elections. Trump needs to appease the Americans who voted for him and tell them, “Look, there’s no problem with your rice. If India sends cheap rice, I’ll impose more tariffs on it.” 

Mr. Donald Tariff decided to impose tariffs on India. But this survey shows that this has made everything more expensive for Americans. A survey shows that Americans are currently very upset with Trump’s tariffs. Ultimately, the goods Americans are getting because of those tariffs are more expensive, and when they become more expensive, Americans struggle with the rising prices of their daily necessities. The result is that prices rise, leading to inflation, which is why six out of 10 Americans currently dislike Trump. A recent Gallup survey shows that Trump’s approval rate has reached 36%. This means that only 36% of people approve of him, while 60% disapprove, saying, “We don’t like him.”

But Mr. Donald Tariff believes that by imposing agricultural tariffs, he can save American farmers in six states. He’s demonstrating, “Look, I imposed a tariff on rice coming from India to make your rice sell, so that Indian rice will no longer be sold in the Indian market, and your expensive rice will be sold.”

There is something called quality. Who can explain this? But never mind. This is Donald Trump. They believe that this method they’ve learned in economics, namely tariffs, was never invented.

And they played another trick.

When their opponents began to tease them, saying, “Sir, these tariffs you impose only harm Americans.”

It doesn’t happen. So, they did something new. And what they did was, look, we distribute the money we earned by imposing tariffs among the farmers. And in doing so, Donald Trump announced a $12 billion bailout package to his farmers yesterday. He said, “For those farmers who are now unable to sell soybeans, China isn’t buying soybeans. Rice is facing problems. I’m bringing a bailout package for them. This is the money. You keep it and be happy. Because you people are facing problems in trade with the world due to our trade policies. So, enjoy yourself.” The usual way to do that is to distribute the money to the farmers growing soybeans and millet, telling them to keep it as money. In short, Donald Trump, Mr. Peace President, who uses the Brahmastra called tariffs, will now impose this rice-shaped tariff on India. He will impose a tariff on rice. Whatever the meaning, it greatly underestimates his economic acumen. It’s not me, but many people who follow him on social media who are commenting negatively about him. “Trump, how can you make such a decision based on a call from here? Without even checking why America buys rice, even though it’s an exporter itself. Yet, you tell your minister to impose a tariff on this issue.” This shows that you think you have an ego. You’ve developed a sense of understanding: “I know more. I have an idea how to bring them into line.” But, “Never mind, your ego is yours.” Not only that, he even talked about imposing a tariff on Canadian fertilizer, saying, “Canada is affecting our domestic fertilizer production. Put a tariff on that too.” Similarly, he talked about imposing tariffs on Mexico. 

Overall, Trump’s “tariff” has now become a very common term. Perhaps, as he left, he dropped the surname “Trump” and started using “Tarief” as his surname. Amidst all the talk about tariffs, when the question arose about whether he disliked India’s friendship with Russia, experts say that there was nothing in India’s behavior toward Russia that would offend the West. India welcomed Putin in a very measured manner and handled the West with great restraint. This means that India managed to balance Russia and the West together in a very balanced manner. So, what’s the fuss? Why did this gentleman impose tariffs? We thought that tariffs were being imposed on friendship with Russia. In fact, he has a disease, and that disease is ego. An ego has taken over him, a sense of “I know everything.” This disease has now become widespread in newspapers. New Yorkers have called it “Trump’s Ego,” that he has an ego. Many newspapers have called it “Trump’s Ego Destroys Strategic Relations.” Many American lawmakers are also saying that he has developed a disease called ego. By this, they mean he has started walking around in the pride of knowing all the strategic relations. He knows the tariffs.

 A different kind of disease has developed in his mind due to old age, which is why he continues to do anything. Recently, a very interesting incident occurred when former Indian RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan was asked in an interview what he thought was responsible for the 50% tariff on Russian oil imposed on India. Raghuram Rajan is known for his pro-Congress stance. He has also been seen sharing the stage with Rahul Gandhi and, during the UPA government, served as a governor of the RBI in India. He gave a very interesting answer: “Friendship with Russia is not the reason behind the 50% tariff on India.” India simply refused to bow to the US’s words. Pakistan took credit for this, saying, “Yes, sir, you initiated the ceasefire, which resulted in Pakistan receiving a 19% tariff.” Pakistan, however, refused to acknowledge the ceasefire in front of the US, saying, “You initiated it, so you started paying them a 50% tariff.” So he said there’s no issue with Russia. 

It’s all about Trump’s ego. Raghuram Rajan also echoed this sentiment. This further demonstrates that the spirit of “nation first” is still alive among our country’s intellectuals. Raghuram Rajan deserves praise for the way he expressed this. He placed the nation above party politics, and instead of blaming a particular party for bad foreign policy in India-US relations, he connected it to Trump’s ego and hit the nail on the head. How do you see it? Please let us know in the comments section. If you’re new to the channel, please subscribe. However, this incident has caused a slight decline in the prices of our country’s stocks that export agricultural products like rice. But this is momentary. Again, it will return to relief because we export 3% of our total global rice exports to the US. So, this is not expected to have a major impact. As for the trade deal with the US, we are still on the right track. Negotiations for a trade deal with the US are ongoing. The US train team is arriving in India today. This is currently in the news. So, the trade deal is already underway. It is expected that India and the US will have a trade deal by the end of this month.