Samyukt Kisan Morcha demands Goyal’s resignation, asks PM to refrain from signing deal with U.S.

As soon as Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal explained the details of the India-United States bilateral trade agreement, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) demanded his immediate resignation. Leaders of apple and cotton growers said any relaxation to the import of cotton will be disastrous for States such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Talking to reporters at a press conference on Saturday (February 7, 2026), the leaders of SKM said the framework for the interim agreement on U.S.-India trade is a total surrender before the multinational giants of U.S. agriculture sector. Particularly citing the inclusion of dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products in the joint statement, the SKM leaders said control of the animal feed market will be completely monopolised by U.S. companies.

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SKM leaders urged farmers to join protest demonstrations on February 12 and support the general strike of workers as a “befitting reply to the anti-people Modi government”.

The framework, the leaders said, the claim of Mr. Goyal that the agriculture and dairy sectors are out of the agreement was wrong. “Dairy products are part of the FTAs signed with the U.K., New Zealand and European Union and the fresh revelations have undoubtedly proved the Commerce Minister is consciously propagating falsehood and betraying the farmers and the entire people. SKM considers the role of Commerce Minister as a traitor and demands his immediate resignation. Also, SKM demands the Prime Minister to desist from signing the India-US Free Trade Agreement or face massive pan-India united mass struggles,” the SKM leaders said.

The leaders said the U.S. tariff on Indian goods has actually risen from zero to 3% in 2023-24 to 18%, while Indian tariff rates on U.S. agriculture products that stood at 30% to 150% are now down to zero. “This will make Indian agriculture hang by the noose of U.S. MNCs,” they said.

Questioning the Minister’s stand that the animal husbandry sector had demanded for import of animal feeds, the SKM said no farmer said they need imported cattle feed. “Some poultry groups were demanding import of feed based on maize and soybean so that they can reduce the minimum support price for both the crops here. We have heard that the animal feed in U.S. may contain non-vegetarian items too. Why does the government want our cows to eat non-vegetarian food?” asked SKM leader Rakesh Tikait.

“The RSS had been claiming no import of milk of animals fed with meat. That was a non-tariff barrier. Now, the RSS has been made to eat its own claim by ‘Master’ Donald Trump and they have cowed down completely,” the SKM statement added.

Leader of Apple Farmers Federation of India and Jammu and Kashmir MLA M.Y. Tarigami said the trade deal will have a disastrous impact on the economy of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. “We have been facing problems in apple cultivation due to lack of marketing facilities and climatic challenges. Farmers in both the States are already in distress. This announcement will be a huge setback for apple and tree nut growers. In a State like Jammu and Kashmir, where there are no other economic avenues such as industry, the only source of income was cultivation of apples and dry fruits. The Union government does not care about farmers here and is working for their masters in the United States,” Mr. Tarigami said.

India gets three lakh bales of duty-free cotton from Australia every year, from Africa at 5.5% duty, and duty-free cotton that is more than 32 mm from the U.S. too. Currently, the price of Indian cotton sold by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is 15% higher than that of Brazilian cotton. While 225 lakh bales of Indian cotton have arrived in the market since the beginning of the current cotton marketing season (October 2025 to September 2026), the farmers are likely to have another 100 lakh bales. “Cotton imports will continue as long as Indian cotton is expensive. We are, however, unaware of the details for cotton imports under the India-U.S. deal,” said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India.

Ajit Nawale, a leader of cotton farmers in Maharashtra, said the yield of cotton in India is much less than many foreign countries and any import of cotton from the U.S. without any duties will vitiate the situation of cotton farmers in the country.