Trade Unions, Farmers To Protest Against US Tariffs, India-UK Deal On August 13

NDTV

3 days ago

New Delhi:
CTUs-SKM, the platform of ten Central Trade Unions and Samyukt Kisan Morcha, on Monday gave a call for a nationwide protest on August 13, against US President Donald Trump's tariff threats and India-UK CETA.
According to a statement, the CTUs-SKM strongly condemned the recent threats by Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on India and also punitive tax for the oil trade deal with Russia.
"CTUs-SKM calls upon all farmers, workers, students, and patriotic citizens to join the nationwide day of resistance on August 13, 2025, with various mass actions like tractor and motorcycle rallies, protest demonstrations, public gatherings, and other forms of protest as decided by different platforms and partner organizations," it stated.
They demanded that India must reject Trump's tariff threats and assert its sovereign right to trade with all nations, including Russia.
The India-UK CETA must be reviewed and altered immediately, they demanded.
All negotiations for a US-India trade deal must be halted to prevent further corporate exploitation, they stressed.
They also stated that no more secret trade agreements -- all future deals must undergo full parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.
The East India Company colonized India through trade -- today, CETA and US trade deals are the new instruments of corporate imperialism, they alleged.
On August 13, farmers and workers will rise in defense of sovereignty and freedom, sending a clear message, it said, adding that this is a blatant act of economic coercion aimed at dictating India including its trade relations with Russia.
These aggressive measures expose the hypocrisy of US trade policies, which demand open markets for American corporations while weaponizing tariffs to bully sovereign nations.
Equally alarming is the Indian government's meek submission to these threats, reflecting its growing subservience to western imperialist interests, it said.
This surrender is further evident in the recently signed India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA), a deal that sacrifices the interests of India's farmers, workers, and economic independence at the altar of foreign corporate profits, it stated.
Instead of firmly rejecting this intimidation, the central government has responded with silence, signaling its willingness to compromise India's strategic autonomy in favour of the USA, it stated.
This capitulation paves the way for an even more exploitative India-US trade deal, which would grant American agri-business corporations like Cargill unrestricted access to India's dairy sector, agriculture, resulting in collapsing prices & destroying the farming community along with endangering food security of the nation, it stated.
It would also trigger deindustrialization in India and skyrocketing unemployment, it pointed out.
The India-UK CETA, is also a direct attack on India's food security, healthcare, and economic self-reliance, it alleged.