Trump threatens 'very severe tariffs' on India for 'dumping rice' in US - Will he raise duties again?

In a major development, US President Donald Trump on Monday (Dec 8) hinted that he may impose new tariffs on agricultural imports, including Indian rice and Canadian fertilizers. He said that he is contemplating on the same after hearing farmers’ complaints about cheap foreign goods that are undercutting US producers. Trump hinted the same during a White House meeting where he unveiled $12 billion in support for American farmers. This comes ahead of US delegation's expected visit to India this week for further talks on trade.

Doubling down his stance, the president said he would "take care" of alleged dumping of Indian rice into the US. Farmers have pointed to falling rice prices, claiming imports from countries like India, Vietnam and Thailand are undercutting their crops. "They shouldn't be dumping," Trump said. "I mean, I heard that, I heard that from others. You can't do that." He also suggested possible tariff measures on fertiliser coming from Canada to encourage local production. "A lot of it does come in from Canada, and so we'll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to, because that's the way you want to bolster here," he said, adding, "And we can do it here. We can all do that here."