Jose K. Mani calls for discussion on Indo-U.S. trade agreement

Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K. Mani, MP, has called upon the Union government not to proceed with the proposed Free Trade Framework Agreement between India and the United States, holding that it would severely harm the interests of Indian farmers.

In statement here on Wednesday, Mr. Mani alleged that the agreement was being pushed as part of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and demanded that all terms and details of the proposed framework be made public and a thorough discussion be held in Parliament.

According to him the agreement would adversely affect small-scale dairy, poultry, coconut and rubber farmers. “In a situation where domestic milk production is already non-profitable, a surge of imported foreign milk and milk products could devastate the dairy sector. The import of chicken meat could push the ₹1 lakh-crore poultry industry into a crisis, resulting in massive job losses. Large-scale imports of soybean oil would destabilise the coconut oil market and the proposed import of synthetic rubber at ₹90 per kg would deal a severe blow to the domestic rubber sector,” he pointed out.

Published - June 05, 2025 07:06 pm IST